


The Big Brother Mix-Up

by DJBunn3



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Angst, Big Brothers, Coffee Shops, Denial, First Dates, Fluff, Forced Bonding, Grief/Mourning, Horoscopes, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, M/M, Minor Character Death, Misunderstandings, Parties, Past Character Death, Running Away, Secrets, Sibling Love, Stargazing, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Wakes & Funerals, temporarily sick character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-07-15 18:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 43,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16068584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DJBunn3/pseuds/DJBunn3
Summary: It’s been two months since the tragic car accident that took the life of one of college freshman Keith’s neighbors, Matt Holt, causing his sister Pidge to go deep into denial. When it’s clear Pidge won’t open up on her own, Colleen Holt decides to bring in an outsider for help; a friendly, funny, and strangely mysterious “Big Brother” named Lance.But when Lance’s bad sense of direction lands him on Keith’s doorstep instead, Keith has to make a split-second decision; protect Pidge from being forced to talk, or direct Lance to the right house and stay out of it? The answer is obvious, but the consequences are less than ideal, and soon he finds himself further wrapped up in the situation he’d wanted nothing to do with. To make matters worse, Lance starts unexpectedly popping up all over the place, intertwining himself even further in Keith’s life.Will Lance’s cheerful personality really be the key to helping Pidge open up, or is it something deeper about him? Does his playful flirting mean anything, or is it all just a game? And can Keith really get close to him without consequence, or will his conflict of interest make it impossible?





	1. Chapter 1

There’s a boy at his door.

Not just any boy; a college age boy, maybe a little bit younger than him, with oceanic eyes, a T-shirt that reads Big Brother, and a name tag-- _ Hi, my name is Lance _ . He’s got a backpack slung loosely over his shoulder, he’s carrying a blue folder with a few papers sticking out messily, and his other hand is extended towards Keith.

“Can I help you?” Keith asks, accepting the handshake. Lance’s hands are warm and soft, unlike Keith’s, which are scarred and calloused from years of recklessness.

“I’m Lance,” the boy says, gesturing to the nametag Keith’s already read. “I’m Katie Holt’s new Big Brother.”

Ouch. That probably could have been worded more delicately, considering his neighbor Pidge’s  _ real _ big brother died in a car crash two short months ago. Not that Keith is an expert on delicate wording or anything, but still. The words  _ new big brother _ just sound bad to him.

Maybe Lance doesn’t know all the details of the situation. Maybe Colleen Holt didn’t want to explain everything to some stranger over the phone with Matt’s death so fresh on her mind. It would be more than understandable, considering all she’s had to go through lately.

Now that he thinks about it, Keith remembers her mentioning something about a Big Brother project the last time he’d gone over to visit Pidge, but none of that explains why Lance is  _ here _ .

“Sorry I’m a little late,” Lance says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m terrible with directions and my phone died on me mid-way here, so I had to stop and ask for help. Is now a bad time?”

“Uh…” Keith glances through the window to his left, where the Holts’  _ actual _ house is. Apparently Lance is really,  _ really _ bad with directions, because he’d somehow managed to get the address wrong by one house.

Lance must take his silence for something else, because he continues even more sheepishly. “I thought you said noon would be fine, but I might be misremembering, since I  _ also _ remember your name to be Colleen.”

“I’m…” Keith glances back at the door, trying to work out what to do. On the one hand, Lance  _ clearly _ has the wrong address and should probably be informed of that, but on the other hand, Pidge would resent him forever if she ever found out he sent a Big Brother her way. She and Matt had been really close, and his death had impacted her a lot over the last few weeks. He doubts that a Big Brother would change any of that.

“I’m Keith,” he says unsurely, mind racing. “Pidge- uh,  _ Katie’s _ friend. Colleen’s her mom.”

“I figured,” Lance says lightly, smiling. “I mean, you sounded way different over the phone. It makes sense that it wasn’t you.”

He glances inside like he’s expecting Pidge to materialize out of nowhere, and Keith realizes that he needs to make up his mind like, two minutes ago. Should he send Lance away or cover for Pidge? As much as he hates to think about the consequences, the answer is obvious.

“Katie should be down in a little bit,” he says, opening the door wider. Sure, Lance will realize that he’s bluffing eventually, but it’s not like Keith ever needs to see him again, and it will be worth it to save Pidge from having to open up about Matt. Shiro won’t be home for a while, either, so no one besides Colleen will ever have to know.

“Thanks,” Lance says, stepping inside. Keith leads him over to the couch, gesturing for Lance to sit.

“Do you want anything to drink?” he asks awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot. “There’s water, and… Orange juice?”

“Water would be great, thanks.”

Keith nods, turning towards the kitchen and thanking whoever might be listening that Lance didn’t choose orange juice. (He’s pretty sure the carton in the fridge expired a month ago.)

At least now he has time to make a plan. He can’t stall Lance forever, but he can hold him off for as long as possible, then politely tell him that he has the wrong address and he should leave Pidge alone. And then he should probably go over and re-pay Colleen for the session she’d bought. Big Brother programs can’t cost  _ that _ much, he figures, and if Lance works for some sort of five-star sibling service, he can always pick up an extra shift at the Starbucks he works at. He just needs to keep Lance busy for as long as he can.

“Nice place you have,” Lance says as he walks back to the living room, looking around appreciatively. Keith shrugs, setting a cup of water down on the table. The cup he’d used is chipped and there’s a stain near the bottom, but it’s better than the My Little Pony mugs he buys Shiro every year for his birthday. (Those almost never get used, but Shiro’s too sentimental to give them away.)

“It’s my friend’s,” he says dismissively. “I’m just here for college.”

“Oh, really? What college do you go to?” Lance leans forward, resting his hand on his chin and smiling. He’s got a nice smile, all genuine and likeable. Keith almost feels bad for lying to him, before he remembers he’s doing this for Pidge.

“Iverson,” Keith responds automatically. Lance’s eyes light up.

“Really? So do I!” he exclaims, pulling out a student ID. Keith raises an eyebrow at his enthusiasm. He’s never met a college student so excited to actually be in college.

“What’s your major?” he asks nervously, wondering how long he can keep this up. He’s an awful liar, after all.

“Undecided. I wanted to go into astronomy and astrology, but I don’t know if I’d be smart enough for that.” Lance laughs quietly. “So I’m just hoping something catches my attention before too long. What about you?”

“Engineering,” Keith replies.

“Oh, really? My friend Hunk is majoring in engineering, too,” Lance says excitedly. “He’s a total genius. Maybe you guys share a few classes.”

“Maybe,” Keith echoes, doubtful. He doesn’t know of anyone in his class named Hunk, and even though Iverson’s engineering program isn’t that big, there are still more than enough classes for it to be believable that they’ve never encountered each other.

“Man, I can’t believe I haven’t seen you around campus yet,” Lance says, taking a sip of his water and leaning back. “What year are you?”

“Freshman,” Keith replies, glancing at Shiro’s My Little Pony clock carefully hidden out of sight of visitors. It’s only been a few minutes, and he’s already starting to regret his decision to distract Lance.  _ For Pidge, _ he reminds himself, focusing back on the conversation. “And you are…”

“Freshman.” Lance grins. “I must not have been paying very close attention in the halls. After all, it’d be hard to forget a face like yours.”

Keith blinks in surprise. Is that a compliment? Is Lance joking? He honestly can’t tell, so he shoves it aside and replies, “It’s kind of a big school,” instead.

Lance stares at him for a second with a serious expression, then smiles again. “Nah. I’d remember you.”

“Well.” Keith looks around the room, hoping for a topic of conversation to jump out at him. “You said you were into astronomy?” he prompts, gaze landing on a star-covered bandana slung haphazardly across a pile of textbooks.

“Oh, big time. I had such a  _ huge _ space phase when I was in high school. Basically everything I owned was space-patterned. I even asked my mom to paint my room like the milky way, with all the planets and constellations and stuff. My brother was  _ so _ not into that.” Lance chuckles to himself, shaking his head ruefully. “I got over it eventually, but I guess a part of it kind of stuck. I still check my horoscope every morning.”

“Really?” Keith raises an eyebrow. “What’s your horoscope today?”

“That it’s going to be very busy,” Lance says. “And full of interesting, unusual developments.”

“Are they always accurate?”

Lance shrugs. “I’m not a firm believer, but sometimes it helps me get through the day. It’s always nice to have a little guidance.”

“Oh yeah?” Keith grins, despite himself.

“Totally. Here, I’ll prove it to you.” Lance pulls out his phone and starts typing. “When’s your birthday?”

“October twenty-third,” Keith replies automatically. “I’m a Scorpio.”

“Scorpio… Hm…” Lance clicks on an article and scans it for a few seconds. “Interesting…”

“What?” Keith asks, curious. “What is it?”

“It says here… ‘A handsome, charming stranger will mysteriously appear on your doorstep’,” Lance reads, face completely straight. “Huh. Seems accurate.”

“It definitely does  _ not _ say that,” Keith says disbelievingly, stifling a laugh. Lance breaks out into a grin.

“Okay, so I may have altered it a tiny bit,” he admits, looking down sheepishly. “It actually says, ‘You might find what you seek in an unusual place and in an unconventional way’.”

“Yeah, that sounds more than a tiny bit altered,” Keith teases, rolling his eyes. “And anyway, those things are always so vague. You could totally interpret them any way you wanted to.”

“That’s the fun of it!” Lance exclaims, switching off his phone and setting it on the couch. “See, some days I think I know exactly what it means, and it manifests itself completely differently than I’m expecting it to. And other days, I have no idea what to expect, but once I look back at the day, it all starts to make sense.”

“So? It’s all still a bunch of nonsense.”

“That may be true,” Lance says, “but still. It helps sometimes, to think that every day has a moral, or a meaning. A point.”

“I guess.”

“So negative.” Lance shakes his head in mock disappointment, sighing. “Come on, though, you’ve gotta admit that mine was pretty spot-on. I  _ was _ pretty busy running around and looking for your place.”

All of a sudden, he remembers why he’s doing this. He’s not here to make friends with Lance, he’s here to distract him from Pidge. He’d gotten sidetracked with Lance’s playful horoscope talk, but he needs to stay focused on his true objective. He can’t get careless and give something away, at least not until he’s taken up as much as Lance’s time as possible.

How long does one of these sessions last, anyway? An hour? Two? Is it prepaid or by the hour? He doesn’t dare risk another glance at the My Little Pony clock, trying to steer the conversation back to a safe topic.

“Do you live close to here?” he asks, leaning forward and resting his hand on his chin. Lance shrugs, making a “kind of” gesture with his hand.

“I mean, Iverson is pretty close,” he says. “I live at the dorms there, but I try to spend at least one day a week at my mom’s house, which is a little further. She gets lonely sometimes, you know? That’s why it took me so long to get here.”

“Aren’t the dorms kind of expensive?”

Lance nods with a wince. “It’s a little ridiculous to spend all that money when I could just live at home, but I had to get out of there for a little while. I picked up a few jobs and saved up a lot, and now I’ve got my own dorm, and a roommate, and I can visit Mami whenever I want.”

“It’s nice that your mom lives close,” Keith says with a small smile. “Is your roommate nice?”

“Oh, he’s alright.” Lance shrugs, taking another sip of his water. “I’m better friends with his girlfriend, but we’re friendly enough. To be honest, he’s hardly ever at the dorm at the same time as me.”

“Do you have a lot of friends at school?” Keith asks, finding himself getting curious again. Lance had already mentioned Hunk, who Keith doesn’t know, and his roommate’s girlfriend as well, but maybe he and Keith have some common acquaintances or something.

“Not a lot who I’m close to,” Lance says, “but I’ve got friends. It’s good to put your best foot forward with everyone, right?”

“I guess so,” Keith replies, not sure if he actually agrees. “What, did that come from your horoscope, too?”

“Nah, my brother used to say that,” Lance explains, swirling the water around in his cup. He watches it drip down the inside of the glass for a few seconds, seemingly lost in thought before he shakes himself back to the present.

“What were we talking about again?” he asks, scratching his head. “Oh yeah, dorms. I mean, living on campus isn’t cheap, but I got a few scholarships, so it’s not like I’ll be in debt forever.”

“Thank god for scholarships,” Keith agrees, huffing a laugh. “I’m glad Shiro let me stay with him, or else I’d never have been able to go to Iverson, even with my campus job.”

Lance pauses, confused. “Wait, who’s Shiro? I thought this was Sam and Colleen’s house.”

“Uh…” Keith scratches his cheek, trying to think of an excuse. “I mean, this is…  _ Technically _ it’s not…”

Lance’s eyes narrow in suspicion. “This  _ is _ where Katie Holt lives, right? You said you were her friend.”

“I  _ am _ her friend,” Keith confirms, “but she doesn’t… Pidge doesn’t…”

They’re interrupted by a knock on the door, followed by the last person Keith wants to see right now yelling, “Hey! It’s me!”

“That.” Lance looks between the door and Keith. “That isn’t  _ Shiro _ , is it?”

“No,” Keith says with a sigh, shaking his head and standing. He’s totally caught. “That would be my neighbor, Pidge Holt.”

“Your  _ neighbor _ ?” Lance asks incredulously, standing as well. “I’m confused. What’s going on?”

Keith doesn’t reply. Instead, he opens the door and lets it swing open wide, revealing Pidge standing on the porch with a foil-wrapped dish in her hands. “Mom sent leftovers again,” she says, shoving the dish at Keith unceremoniously. “She says you could use a home-cooked meal.”

“Pidge, this really isn’t a good time,” Keith says, trying to sound quiet. There’s no way he can keep her from knowing about Colleen’s Big Brother plan if Lance is still here, and he really doesn’t want anyone else to know what he’s up to. “Thank your mom for the… whatever it is, but do you think you can deliver it later?”

“Wait, hold on a second,” Lance interrupts, pushing past Keith so that he’s standing between them. He looks back and forth between Pidge and Keith, his confused frown growing bigger the longer they stand there. “What’s going on?”

“Uh, Keith? Who’s your friend?” Pidge asks, frowning right back. “And why’s he wearing a nametag?”

“I’m Katie Holt’s Big Brother,” Lance explains automatically. Keith winces, and Pidge visibly recoils, almost dropping the dish.

“Excuse me?!” she exclaims, glaring. “Is this supposed to be some kind of sick joke?”

“What? No, your mom-” Lance cuts himself off when Pidge lets out a suspiciously growl-like sound. Keith steps in quickly.

“Pidge, he doesn’t know,” he says gently, setting a hand on her shoulder in what he hopes to be a calming gesture. “He didn’t mean it the way it sounds.”

“Well, it  _ sounds _ terrible any way you put it!” Pidge snaps, turning her icy glare on him. “What is he doing here, anyway?”

“Yeah, that’s what I’d like to know,” Lance adds. “You know, considering Katie Holt doesn’t  _ actually  _ live here.”

Keith sighs, dropping his head into his hands. “Okay, listen… I didn’t mean to interfere with your plans and waste your time, but I had to look out for Pidge.”

“Look out for me? What are you talking about?” Pidge asks, her anger melting into confusion.

“Yeah, I’m still lost,” Lance agrees, still frowning. Keith shakes his head and sighs again.

“We should talk with Colleen,” he says, defeated. “I don’t want to explain this more than once.”

* * *

Half an hour later, Keith is still trying to convince himself that he did the right thing. He’s sitting in the Holt family’s living room, head in hands, listening to Pidge and Colleen arguing in the kitchen. He seems to have caused his neighbors a lot of trouble by keeping Lance away from his friend for as long as he could, but at least he’d been right about Pidge not wanting to deal with all this Big Brother stuff, especially not on her own.

A second body settles down next to his, followed by a long-winded sigh. Keith peeks through a gap in his fingers to see Lance laying back with his head against the back of the couch.

“Everything okay?” he asks, despite himself. Lance cracks open an eye.

“I feel terrible about all that stuff I said,” he admits. “I had no idea about Matt. Colleen was really vague on the phone, and I didn’t have any other information on Ka- Pidge.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Keith assures him, sitting up so he can face Lance. “You had no way of knowing.”

“Yeah, but still…” Lance trails off with another long sigh. Keith fidgets uncomfortably for a second before speaking up again.

“I’m sorry for lying to you,” he says guiltily. “I was just doing my best to look out for Pidge. Matt’s death has been really hard on her, and it just didn’t seem like a good time to bring in another Big Brother.”

Lance shakes his head, a faint smile appearing on his face. “Don’t even worry about it. Pidge is lucky to have a friend like you.”

“Still. I should have just told you in the first place, and we could have avoided all of this.”

They both glance towards the kitchen, where Colleen is still trying to reason with Pidge. Keith’s shoulders droop unhappily.

“Hey, don’t blame yourself,” Lance says, turning back to him. “Like I said, Pidge is lucky to have someone like you looking out for her. You’re actually a really nice guy, you know?”

Keith scoffs, but he can’t help but smile. “Yeah, right.”

“I mean, sure, you lied to me for like twenty minutes straight, but it came from a place of good intentions.”

Lance’s smile is gentle, but there’s a spark to it as well. Keith takes it as a sign that he’s just teasing. “I was going to tell you,” he says, “but I wanted to wait for as long as I could. You know, so you wouldn’t just go right over to Pidge and- well, I guess it already kind of happened.”

“I’m impressed that you kept it up for so long, though. I was totally distracted.” Lance winks, his expression playful.

They’re interrupted once again when Pidge comes shuffling into the living room, hands shoved deep inside her pockets. Keith tries to catch her eye, but her attention is focused solely on Lance.

“I’m sorry that I yelled at you earlier,” she mumbles halfheartedly, kicking at the floor. “I didn’t mean to offend you or anything.”

“It’s not your fault,” Lance assures her with a sympathetic smile. “I get it.”

“Yeah, but you were just trying to do your job.” Pidge takes a deep breath before soldiering on. “Okay, so, I don’t want to do this at all, but my mom thinks it will be good for me. So, if you’re willing to come back next weekend, I’ll play video games with you or something for an hour.”

Lance breaks out into a genuine grin. “I’d like that, Pidge,” he says.

“There are conditions,” Pidge continues, ignoring him. “One: we don’t talk about my brother. Two: you don’t call yourself my Big Brother, ‘cause that’s just messed up and I hate it.”

“Deal,” Lance agrees easily.

“And,” Pidge adds, holding up a finger before turning and pointing it at Keith. “You’ve gotta be there with me.”

“What? Why me?” Keith protests, balking. Pidge shrugs, dropping her finger.

“I want you there,” she explains. “At least for the first time. Plus, my mom says she’ll pay for the time you wasted if you agree to hang out with us next weekend.”

Keith frowns, crossing his arms. On the one hand, he doesn’t really want to spend his weekend with the guy whose time he’d just wasted, but on the other hand, he  _ does _ kind of owe Pidge and Colleen. If this is how they want him to pay them back, he can’t exactly say no.

“Come on, man,” Lance says, nudging him playfully. “It’ll be fun, I promise.”

“Fine,” Keith agrees reluctantly. “If I’m free, I’ll come over and hang out.”

“You’d better.” Pidge still seems bristly, even after making a deal with him and Lance. “Ugh, I’m stressed out now. I’m gonna go take Beybey on a walk.”

As if on cue, the Holt’s family dog wanders around the corner and looks longingly at the door. Keith can’t help but sympathize with her--he’d make a run for it, too, if he could.

“Keith, want to come?” Pidge offers, already bending down to clip Beybey’s leash on. Figuring it’s as much of an olive branch as he’s gonna get, Keith nods and stands, then turns to Lance.

“I should probably get back,” Lance says sheepishly, glancing at his phone. “I’ll be a little early, but that’s fine.”

“I’m really sorry, again,” Keith starts, but Lance is already waving him off.

“Stop apologizing, dude. I really don’t mind, okay?” Grabbing his bag from the ground and turning to the door, he addresses both of them. “I’ll see you guys next weekend.”

Pidge rolls her eyes, opening the door to let him out. Once it swings closed, she turns to the place under the coat hooks where she normally keeps her shoes, finding the floor there suspiciously bare.

“Mom,” she groans, “stop moving my shoes!”

“Sorry, honey,” Colleen apologizes, appearing in the doorway. She looks tired and worn down, Keith realizes, now that he’s looking. Colleen is normally as put together as they come, as opposed to Sam Holt’s chaotic organization and scattered thought process. Matt’s death must be taking a huge toll on all of them. “I put them in your room, I think.”

Pidge sighs dramatically, turning to the hallway. “I’ll be back,” she calls over her shoulder, before disappearing further into the house. Colleen watches her go almost sadly before turning her attention on Keith.

“I’m sorry,” Keith says, ashamed. “About all of this. I just wanted to help Pidge-”

“I know you did, Keith,” Colleen replies, smile tinged with melancholy. “You’ve been an excellent friend to her over the past two months. But I really think being around Lance will be a good thing for her, even if it takes some time.”

“You really think so?” Keith asks doubtfully, glancing back at the door where Lance had disappeared. “No offense, but I don’t know how a Big Brother as cheery as him’s gonna help her through… this.”

“You’d be surprised,” Colleen says, a glimmer of her old self in her eyes. “Sometimes people find what they’re looking for in the most unexpected places.”

Her words mirror his horoscope reading to the point that Keith wonders if she’d somehow overheard them, although that’s obviously impossible.

“I just think it will be good for her to open up,” Colleen continues, glancing back down the hall. “I know she seems to be doing better, but I’m afraid that she’s bottling her emotions up. Nothing good can come of that.”

“But if she’s not ready to talk-” Keith protests.

“If she’s not ready, then Lance will help her through that, too,” Colleen interrupts confidently. “I know he’ll be good for her. All of this will be good for her. It will just take some time.”

“If you say so,” Keith replies, but he still feels doubtful. Why would Pidge open up to a total stranger like Lance if she won’t talk to him, or her parents, or her friends at school? And how can Lance, bright and smiley and happy as a puppy with a bone, possibly know how to help her through this? It just doesn’t make sense.

Pidge runs back through the hallway a second later, glasses askew, feet shoved into a pair of old green sneakers. “I’m ready if you are,” she says, picking up Beybey’s leash.

“Ready,” Keith echoes, shooting one last look at Colleen before his friend drags him out the door. She looks back at him surely, that confidence from before still set into her expression. She really does believe that Lance can help Pidge open up again.

The door closes behind him, and Pidge lets out a sigh of relief. “Come on,” she says, turning towards their neighborhood park with Beybey in tow. “Let’s get going.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here!!! I've been working on The Big Brother Mix-Up for a long time, so I'm very excited to share it with the world!! I really hope you guys enjoy it!  
> This was also my second time participating in the Klance Big Bang on Tumblr, which means I got to work with the wonderful [toffeecoco1](https://toffeecoco1.tumblr.com/), who made some [amazing art to go with my fic!](https://ceciledraws.tumblr.com/post/178363887502/my-piece-for-the-klancebb2018-i-was-a-dumbass).


	2. Chapter 2

Keith is barely awake when Pidge comes knocking on his door, threatening to pick the lock  _ again _ if he tries to bail on her. He’d stayed up into the late hours of the night trying to finish a paper for one of his classes, and now he’s only able to keep his eyes open thanks to the blessing that is coffee.

Shiro emerges from his room just as Keith’s shoving his shoes on and whisper-yelling at Pidge to stop  _ threatening _ him, he’s coming already. He raises a questioning eyebrow at Keith, saying nothing.

“I have to hang out with Pidge and her stupid Big Brother,” Keith explains crankily, putting air-quotes around the words Big Brother. Shiro raises his eyebrow further.

“I lied to him last week and pretended Pidge lives here, and now I have to spend time with them to pay Colleen back.”

“Wow.” Shiro sips at his coffee serenely, unaffected by Keith’s terrible mood. “Good luck, I guess?”

“Thanks,” Keith spits bitterly, his eyes narrowed. Their thin curtains never can keep the light out, and it’s giving him a headache.

“Keith! I’m serious! Hurry up or I’m busting in!” Pidge shouts, banging on the door. Keith groans and fights the urge to bang back at her.

“I’ll be home soon,” he says to Shiro, who gives him an annoyingly cheerful wave in response. He’s probably enjoying this, the jerk.

Reluctantly, Keith opens the door and steps outside. It’s even brighter now, the sun choosing to make an appearance even though it still feels like it’s winter. Keith squints again, then turns his attention to Pidge. Her arms are crossed impatiently and she’s looking at him with an unamused stare.

“Finally,” she says, then turns towards her house and starts walking away.

“Isn’t it kind of early?” Keith asks irritably, shuffling behind her. He’s glad he’d had the foresight to pour his coffee into a travel mug, or there’s no way he’d be able to get through this.

He doesn’t quite know why he’s so intent on being negative today. It’s not like Lance had been unbearable to be around or anything. Sure, he’d been a little preppier than most of Keith’s friends usually are, but it’s not like that’s a  _ bad _ thing. Still, he feels uneasy as he walks over to Pidge’s house. Maybe he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, or maybe it’s leftover guilt and embarrassment from lying to Lance last weekend, but he can’t help but drag his feet on the way over.

The Holts’ driveway is empty when they arrive, meaning both Sam and Colleen are out. Great. As if it wasn’t awkward enough, the three of them are going to be the only ones in the house.

Pidge opens the door and motions Keith inside before following. The Holts’ house hasn’t changed much since Keith was here last, but now he has time to look around without Lance there to distract him. If the clock on the wall is right, they’ve still got a few minutes until he arrives.

The mantle in the living room is almost exactly the same as it’s always been, with the exception of one thing. Placed in front of the family portrait, right where he knows Matt is pictured, is a vase of flowers. They look to be old and wilting--either nobody has noticed, or they know better than to move them away.

Pidge flops down onto one of the small green couches in the living room with a sigh. “I can’t believe I have to do this,” she complains, puffing her cheeks out childishly.

“Tell me about it,” Keith agrees, sitting down next to her. “I have an assignment due tomorrow.”

Pidge turns to him apologetically. “Sorry I got you dragged into this. If you really can’t stay-”

“It’s fine,” Keith interrupts. “Really, Pidge. I wouldn’t make you go through this alone.”

“But if you’ve got school work-”

“I’ll finish it after.”

He really shouldn’t complain. It’s only an hour, and they’ll probably just sit around and do nothing. It could even be a nice break from all of his assignments, if he doesn’t think about them. Plus, he wants Pidge to be comfortable, and if him being here is what it takes, then fine.

“Thanks, Keith,” Pidge says, reaching over and patting his arm gratefully.

The doorbell rings a minute later. Pidge pushes herself up and goes to open the door for Lance.

He’s smiling again, wearing a blue baseball tee and another nametag. This time, the “A” has dog ears and a nose and mouth, topped with two dot eyes. The blue paper from the week before has made an appearance again, as well.

“Hey,” Pidge says, sounding bored. She steps aside to let Lance in as Keith stands, unsure of what to do with himself.

“Good morning, Pidge,” Lance replies cheerfully. “Morning, Keith.”

“Uh, hi,” Keith says, then reaches for his coffee. He can’t talk if he’s busy drinking humanity’s greatest creation.

“I know you talked about playing video games last week, but I had something I wanted to do real quick beforehand,” Lance continues, setting his bag down by the coffee table and opening the folder. “It’s optional, but I’ve got this little questionnaire thingie. I use it to help my new friends get to know me, and to help myself get to know them.”

Oh, wow. Is he serious? Keith scans his face for any signs that he’s not, but comes up with nothing.

Surprisingly enough, Pidge shrugs. “Sure, if it’s part of your process,” she agrees, sitting on the floor and accepting the pencil and paper Lance hands her.

“I’ll do one, too,” he says, sitting as well. “Keith, you want a questionnaire?”

“No, thanks,” Keith says, shaking his head. “I’m just here for Pidge.”

“Come on, Keith,” Pidge says, looking up at him meaningfully. “I think it would really help me if you filled out the questionnaire.”

Keith raises an eyebrow, then reluctantly sinks to the ground. He’s not quite sure why Pidge is pushing him to do this, but he’s not about to go and question her and offend Lance and his process and his dumb questionnaire.

He takes the paper Lance hands him with a nod of thanks, then looks at the first question.  _ What do you like to be called? _ the paper asks.

_ Keith _ , he writes, rolling his eyes. If Lance wants to know these things, he could just ask.

He writes  _ he/him _ next to  _ What pronouns do you use? _ and  _ no _ next to  _ Any words or topics you’d like to avoid? _ He has to admit, the questionnaire is thorough.

He breezes through the next few questions without much thought. _How old are you?_ _19\. What is your favorite color? Red. What is your favorite animal? Lion._

The questions are pretty basic, and he finds himself wanting to sigh or roll his eyes more often than he probably should. Still, he realizes that he doesn’t know a lot of this stuff about Pidge, which kind of makes him feel like a bad friend.

He finishes after Pidge but before Lance. The two of them wait quietly while Lance answers the last few questions, trading uneasy glances.

“Alright, cool,” he says, setting his paper down. “Are you guys comfortable with sharing these with each other?”

“Sure,” Keith says, glancing at Pidge.

“I guess,” Pidge agrees, shrugging. Lance motions for them to rotate the papers, handing his to Pidge, who slides hers over to Keith. Keith gives his to Lance, then turns back to read over his friend’s sheet.

He already knows the answers to most of the questions, but he reads over them anyway. Next to  _ What do you like to be called? _ she’s written  _ Pidge _ , and next to  _ What pronouns do you use? _ she’s written  _ she/her _ . Her favorite animal is apparently her dog, and her favorite color is green.

Next to  _ Any words or topics you’d like to avoid? _ she’s written  _ brother _ .

Pidge snorts disdainfully at something on Lance’s form, then slides it over to Keith. “What’s the point of this, again?” she asks, crossing her arms and fixing Lance with an unamused stare.

“It’s just a first-day exercise to help us learn more about each other,” Lance replies, unaffected by Pidge’s remark. “I know it’s a little stupid, but it’s good for me to have.”

Keith hands Pidge’s paper to Lance, wondering how knowing what her favorite animal is will help him get her to open up. Lance’s paper reads pretty predictably; he likes to be called Lance, he’s eighteen, a leo, and his favorite color is blue. His favorite animal is a cat, his favorite subject in school is English, and his favorite food is  _ pastelitos de guayaba _ .

He looks up at Lance and Pidge, both of who are finishing reading their own papers. “Lions, Keith?” Pidge asks skeptically.

“Hey, lions are pretty cool,” Lance defends. “Did you know that lions walk without their heels touching the ground? And their roars can be heard from eight kilometers away.”

Keith glances towards Pidge, who still looks unimpressed. He supposes their first impression of each other might have stuck with them--her especially--and really, who can blame her? It’s only been two short months since Matt’s car accident, and with Lance’s unfortunate choice of words last weekend, it’s no surprise that she’s skeptical of him.

“Thanks for doing this,” Lance says, moving on from his lion facts. “Both of you. I know it isn’t always easy to tell strangers these things, even if they’re not very important.”

He reaches across the small table and gathers the papers, tucking them back into his folder before shoving it into his backpack. “So, did you have something you wanted to do?” he asks Pidge. “I’m open to anything.”

“I’ve got the new Legendary Defenders game,” Pidge says, glancing towards her room. “I guess we could play that.”

“I didn’t know that they put out a new game,” Lance says, interested. Pidge looks surprised.

“You’re into Legendary Defenders, too? I thought it was kind of a small community.”

Lance shrugs. “My brother liked them. I used to play multiplayer with him when we were younger. He was always the Black Paladin, and I was the Blue one.”

“I like the Green Paladin,” Pidge says, leaning forward unconsciously. “Her powers are the coolest.”

“Are you kidding? The Blue Paladin has  _ ice _ powers,” Lance argues. “He can literally freeze his opponent. How can you beat that?”

“Um, with nature powers, obviously.” Pidge crosses her arms, but the suspicious glint in her eye has disappeared. In fact, she’s talking to Lance like she often does to Keith when they disagree on something. It seems that all it takes to win Pidge over is some video game talk.

“Do you play?” Lance asks, grabbing Keith’s attention. He blinks a few times, refocusing.

“Uh, only a little bit,” he admits with a shrug. “I’m usually pretty busy, but Pidge and I play sometimes.”

“Which Paladin do you play as?”

“The Red one.”

“Keith likes being able to burn things,” Pidge explains, rolling her eyes. “Even though everyone knows the Red Paladin is the worst one.”

“What? That’s not true,” Keith protests. “I’ve beat you plenty of times using Red.”

“I let you win!”

“Why don’t we test it out and see which one is the best,” Lance suggests, grinning. “Even though it’s obviously the Blue Paladin.”

“I’ll show you,” Pidge replies, springing to her feet. “The console’s in my room. Come on!”

* * *

 

Pidge beats Lance two times and Keith three. Considering she normally beats him nine times out of ten, he’s not too upset.

He has to admit, Lance really does know how to use the Blue Paladin’s powers. Of course, he  _ does _ have more experience than Keith does, but it’s still impressive.

Pidge is still the best player out of all of them by far. She’s got more free time to practice, since she’s not in college yet. By the time she’s grown tired of beating them, over half an hour has passed.

“I’ll get you back next time,” Lance promises, flopping backwards onto the floor. Pidge snorts again, more disbelieving than disdainful.

“Sure you will. I bet I could stop playing for a whole year and I’d still be able to beat you.”

“You wish,” Lance teases, grinning.

“I could beat you with my eyes closed. You could literally blindfold me and I’d still win,” Pidge continues, smirking back.

“No way. Keith and I will train together and defeat you,” Lance says, nudging Keith in the side. “Won’t we?”

“Sure,” Keith agrees, deciding not to argue. He’d thought that he’d just sit quietly in the background and kill time on his phone while Lance and Pidge bonded, but Lance keeps pulling him into their activities. Maybe he’s just trying to keep it from being awkward, or to make Pidge more comfortable, but Keith’s not sure if it’s actually working. At the very least, she seems more herself than she had earlier. She’s not trying to offend Lance anymore, and it seemed like she’d actually been having fun while playing.

Maybe this hour-a-week thing won’t be so bad, after all. If Pidge and Lance are starting to get along, Keith doesn’t have to worry about protecting her as much. And Lance doesn’t seem like too bad of a guy to be around, either, if he’s being honest.

“See? You’d better get ready for next time,” Lance says, grinning up at Keith even though he’s talking to Pidge. “I bet we’d make a good team.”

They’re interrupted by a knock on the door, followed by Pidge’s mom sticking her head inside.

“Pidge? Are you in here?” Colleen looks between the three of them. “Having fun?” she asks.

“Sure, mom,” Pidge replies, rolling her eyes. Keith frowns. She probably doesn’t want Colleen in here, especially now that she’s just started to let her guard down around Lance. If there’s one thing teenagers can’t stand, it’s letting their parents know that they were right.

“Do you kids want something to eat?” Colleen offers, glancing towards the kitchen. “I haven’t had a lot of time to go grocery shopping--I’ll probably take off for the store in a few minutes. But help yourselves to anything in the kitchen, okay?”

“Thanks, Mrs. Holt,” Lance says gratefully, dipping his head in a nod. “We appreciate it.”

Pidge huffs, turning to her console and ejecting the Legendary Defenders disk. “We’re fine, mom,” she says, exasperated. “You don’t have to hover all the time, you know.”

“I know that,” Colleen replies, her eyebrows drawing together. “I just-”

“Yeah, I know.” Pidge sighs, setting the disk case on top of the stack of other games on her shelf. “Thanks for checking in.”

“Of course,” Colleen says. “If you need anything, just let me know.”

“We will,” Keith says, trying to end the conversation politely. Colleen seems to get the idea, ducking out of the room quickly with a wave.

Pidge sighs again, shoulders sagging as her mother’s footsteps recede. She seems to have remembered that Lance is here to invade her privacy, not just to play video games with her--or maybe she’s just trying to resist her mom’s attempts to help. But Keith knows that she’d been having fun trash talking him and Lance, even if she won’t admit it.

“She’s just trying her best,” Lance offers, sitting up and turning towards Pidge. “Sometimes parents just don’t know when to leave their kids alone.”

“You’re telling me,” Pidge groans, reaching forward to turn the console off. They sit in silence for a minute, Keith looking back and forth between the two of them in anticipation. He’s not sure where the rest of the session is headed, only that the atmosphere has turned from competitive fun to tense and sensitive in the blink of an eye.

At last, Pidge speaks up, breaking their uncomfortable silence. “What do we do now?”

“What do you want to do?” Lance asks, wisely choosing not to push the topic further.

“I don’t know,” Pidge sighs. “Don’t you have a bunch of dumb bonding activities we have to do or something?”

“Well, I didn’t plan any dumb bonding activities, but I could probably whip something up,” Lance replies. The joke falls flat.

“Please don’t,” Pidge groans. “I don’t know. What do you guys want to do?”

“It’s your house,” Keith points out, glancing at Lance sympathetically. He still wants to protect Pidge, but he also wants her to get along with Lance--or at least be civil until he’s out of the house. Pidge shoots him a glare, crossing her arms.

“Well, I’m not the one being paid to play video games with high schoolers,” she argues with a huff.

“Yeah, neither am I,” Keith counters, frowning. “I’m here for you, remember?”

“Of course I remember,” Pidge snaps. “Otherwise you’d be sitting in your room doing homework. You never have time to play video games with me anymore.”

“I’m in college!” Keith protests.

“Guys, it’s alright,” Lance interjects, holding his hands up placatingly. “We can just watch YouTube videos or something. I’ll go grab my phone.”

He stands, exiting the room quickly, before Pidge can shoot down his idea. Keith sighs, running a hand through his hair. This isn’t going well.

“I can’t believe he’s getting paid for this,” Pidge grumbles, re-crossing her arms.

“It is a little ridiculous,” Keith admits, “but your mom thinks it’ll help. Plus, he’s probably just trying to get to know you better.”

“Wasn’t that what the dumb questionnaire was for?”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah…” Pidge sighs, shaking her head before looking back up at him. “Sorry I blamed you. I know you’re working hard in college.”

“Sorry I haven’t been around as much,” Keith replies. “I’ll try to make more time.”

Pidge blows air out of her cheeks, leaning back on her elbows. “You’re still on my side, right, Keith?” she asks.

“What do you mean?”

“Like, you still think this is stupid, don’t you?” she clarifies. “Or did my mom pull you in with all her healing talk stuff?”

“Nah,” Keith assures her. “I’m here for you, okay? Don’t doubt that.”

“...Alright,” Pidge says, still sounding doubtful. If she’s even suspicious of Keith, of all people, he wonders how many people have tried to get her to talk about Matt before Colleen hired Lance. It’s probably not making it any easier on her, now that he thinks about it.

Lance returns a few seconds later, phone in hands. “Any suggestions?” he asks, settling down between the two of them. “Minecraft videos? Game Theory? Vloggers?”

“Are we really just gonna watch YouTube?” Pidge asks. “I thought we were here for therapy or something.”

“Nah,” Lance says, shaking his head. “Big Broth- My co-workers and I are just here to help out kids who are having a hard time. You don’t have to, like, talk about stuff you don’t want to talk about.”

Pidge glances at Keith, who just shrugs in response. “But I thought my mom-”

“Your mom hired me in case you  _ want _ to talk,” Lance explains. “But I’d never make you. Sometimes people aren’t ready for those conversations. I get it.”

Keith wants to ask how exactly Lance ‘gets it’, but Pidge seems placated, so he bites his tongue. Instead he moves closer to Pidge and nudges her in the side.

“Thanks,” Pidge says, her voice lacking its usual edge. “That’s nice to hear after all this… whatever.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lance replies. His eyes meet Keith’s for a split second before Keith turns his attention back to Pidge.

“What do you want to watch?” he asks, changing the subject quickly. “Dog compilations? I know you like those.”

“Not today,” Pidge says, shaking her head. “Let’s just look through the trending tab until we find something dumb.”

“Sounds good to me,” Lance agrees, opening the app. Soon they’re absorbed in a whirl of clickbait, music videos, and celebrity drama. It’s almost enough to make Keith forget the strange expression on Lance’s face.

* * *

 

“So, thanks for hanging out today,” Lance says. “I appreciate it.”

They’re standing at the door to the Holts’ house while Pidge finds Colleen. Lance has his backpack slung over his arm and his folder in hand. Aside from the fact that his nametag is peeling off of his shirt, he looks almost the same as he had when he’d arrived.

“Sure,” Keith says, shrugging noncommittally. “Anything for Pidge.”

“She’s been really great about this,” Lance continues with a smile. “I’m hoping she’ll stop seeing me like a paid counselor, and more like a friend. I think it’ll help her adjust.”

“That would be good for her,” Keith agrees, although he isn’t so sure how easy it’ll be to convince Pidge that Lance is her friend.

“I hope we can get to be better friends, too, Keith,” Lance adds. “You know, since we’ll be seeing more of each other. Maybe we’ll prove my horoscope right.”

Despite himself, Keith snorts. “What’s it say today?”

“That a social event will help me make some new friends. And that we’ll spend a lot of time on the phone together afterwards,” Lance explains. Then, a tiny bit more hesitantly, he adds, “So… Do you think I could get your number?”

“Um… Sure?” Keith pauses for a second, trying to gauge if Lance is kidding or not. When his expression doesn’t change, he relents and opens his contacts.

“Here,” he says, handing his phone over to Lance. “I’ll put my number in yours, you can do the same.”

“Great,” Lance replies, beaming as he pulls out his own phone and hands it to Keith. He looks so genuinely happy, Keith can’t help but try to return his smile.

They punch in their names and numbers and switch back just as Colleen and Pidge are returning.

“Thanks for coming today,” Colleen says, patting Lance on the shoulder. “Do you think I could talk to you for a minute before you leave?”

“Of course,” Lance agrees easily, smile still present. “It was nice hanging out with you today, Pidge. I’ll definitely beat you next time we play Defenders.”

“In your dreams,” Pidge shoots back, before leading Keith out of the room. They each take a seat at the kitchen table while Colleen talks to Lance in the doorway.

“So, how was that?” Keith asks, raising an eyebrow. “Not too bad?”

“I guess,” Pidge replies, unsure. “I was trying not to like him, you know? ‘Cause he’s just doing his job, and he’s here because of- you know. But he’s actually… kinda cool.”

She admits the last part quietly, with a half-hearted glare towards the living room. Keith pats her on the shoulder.

“He’s not an easy person to dislike, huh?”

“No. He’s so  _ nice _ .” Pidge crosses her arms and practically pouts. “I guess that’s better than being mean, especially since we’ve gotta see him again next week.”

“Right. At least he’s not unbearable.”

Pidge stares silently towards the living room, so Keith leaves it at that. He glances down at Lance’s contact, then opens his browser and searches  _ Leo Horoscope _ . He clicks on the first result that comes up and reads;

_ A special event nearby could connect you with people who share your interests, spiritually or intellectually. You might make some new friends because of this, and will probably spend a lot of time on the phone with them over the coming days. If you’re single, one could be a potential love partner. _

_ Ridiculous _ , Keith thinks, rolling his eyes. Obviously these things are fake and Lance is crazy for believing in them. The whole social event thing was just a coincidence, and the phone number…

Well, it doesn’t matter. The hour is over with, and he can go back to working on his assignments now. If he tries hard enough, he can probably get at least two done.

Only he can’t focus. No matter what he does, or how hard he tries, he can’t seem to get anything done. The only thing he can think about is Lance and Pidge and stupid horoscopes and the new contact in his phone, just waiting to be called.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter is up! Thank you for reading and supporting : D


	3. Chapter 3

Surprisingly enough, Keith sees Lance a day earlier than he’s expecting to, and it’s nowhere near the Holts’ house. He’s at a frat party, looking for Shiro in the crowd, when he spots a familiar looking head of short brown hair and a flash of blue eyes.

Strange. He doesn’t remember recording what color Lance’s eyes are in his memory, but he’s absolutely positive that those are his.

Should he go say hi? He’s not sure what the protocol is for approaching neighborhood Big Brothers. Of course, he and Lance aren’t exactly strangers, but he’s not sure if he’d label them  _ friends _ , either. Despite having Lance’s number, he hasn’t sent a single text (even though it had been tempting,) and hasn’t received any, either. Lance probably just wanted his number for convenience, in case something were to happen with Pidge while Keith wasn’t there. It’s not like he was expecting a text or anything, either.

Still, he’s not quite sure what to do. He ends up looking the other way, wandering towards the kitchen to keep looking for Shiro. People with plastic cups lean against every counter and wall, chatting with each other or scrolling through their phones. It’s crowded and a little uncomfortable, but he manages to push through to the other side. No sign of Shiro.

He sighs, heading for an unoccupied place by the wall across the room. Parties aren’t usually his thing, but he’d wanted to get out of the house for the night, and Shiro had already been going, so he’d figured it would be okay. But then Shiro disappeared with some of his classmates and now Keith’s not sure where he is.

He wanders through the living room, avoiding the mass of dancing college students as best he can. The living room is even more crowded than the kitchen, despite it being a larger space, and the music drowns out most of the other sound in the room, reducing it to an indistinct chatter. It’s hot in here, and dark, and there are abandoned drinks on every surface.

He kind of wishes Pidge was here, but at the same time, he’s glad she’s back home. Having a friend like her to talk with would be nice right about now, but he knows a party like this would freak her out. Sometimes she acts so similar to him, he forgets that she’s three years younger.

The living room is uncomfortably loud and hot and crowded, he decides, turning towards the outside patio. Maybe Shiro went outside to get some air, too.

He opens the sliding glass door and steps out into the night. There’s a cool breeze blowing through the backyard, raising goosebumps on his skin, and he immediately feels better.

He’s wandering further outside when somebody taps him on the shoulder from behind. He turns around and comes face to face with the same blue eyes from before, only this time they’re focused on him.

“Hey,” Lance says with a smile, pulling his hand back. “I didn’t know you’d be here, Keith.”

“Hi, Lance.” Keith glances away, feeling awkward all of a sudden. He clears his throat quickly and tries again. “How are you?”

“Pretty good, actually,” Lance replies, smiling. (He always seems to be smiling, Keith notes.) “I haven’t gotten out in a while, so I thought I’d take a break from studying and just chill for a while.”

“Same here,” Keith says, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Although it’s a little more crowded than I thought it would be.”

“Yeah,” Lance agrees. “It’s a little overwhelming.”

“So…” Keith glances around again, searching for a topic of conversation. “Do you always go out and party the night before work?”

“Oh, no,” Lance says with a laugh, looking down sheepishly. “That probably doesn’t look great, huh.”

“What?” Keith frowns, confused.

“I do take my job seriously,” Lance promises, looking back up at him. “I just needed a break, but I don’t normally-”

“Oh! I didn’t mean you weren’t serious about your job,” Keith interjects quickly. “I was just- I don’t know. Um, I didn’t mean it like that. Sorry.”

“Oh, good,” Lance sighs, the tension melting away. “I thought- well, nevermind. Don’t worry about it.”

“Sorry,” Keith says again, shifting his weight awkwardly. He’s not sure what to say.

“Ah, really, don’t worry about it. If it makes you feel better, I once got fired from my job at a chocolate shop because I stayed up late the night before and fell asleep on top of a bunch of chocolates.” Lance chuckles to himself. “I’m much more responsible now.”

“You fell asleep  _ on _ the chocolates?” Keith repeats incredulously. “How?”

“I was tired, okay? And boxing chocolates is  _ so _ boring,” Lance groans. “You just put them in the little cups and put the cups in the boxes and put the lids on the boxes. And it was summer, so it was warm in the shop, and- well, I guess that’s all the excuses I’ve got.”

“How old were you?” Keith asks, finding himself growing curious again. Something about talking to Lance always distracts him from the task at hand, whether it be protecting Pidge or searching for Shiro.

“Sixteen,” Lance admits. “Way too old to do stuff like that.”

“Sixteen’s still pretty young,” Keith says, shrugging. “I mean, Pidge is sixteen. I can imagine her falling asleep in the middle of something like that.”

“Pidge? Really?” Lance raises an eyebrow in disbelief. “But she seems so responsible.”

“One time she asked me to pretend to be her dad and call her out of class so she could see the new Defenders movie.”

“Did you do it?”

“Um… Yeah,” Keith admits sheepishly. “She got busted, but she didn’t rat me out.”

“See? Mature.”

“She knew I wouldn’t do it for her again if she did,” Keith continues, shaking his head.

“You did it again?” Lance asks. “I thought you were supposed to be her role model or something.”

“As if,” Keith scoffs. “I’m about as good at being a role model as you are at boxing chocolates, if not worse.”

“I seriously doubt that,” Lance says, and there’s a weirdly sincere tone in his voice, like he actually means it. It’s weird, and it makes Keith nervous.

“So, did you come with your friends?” he asks, glancing around the yard. He doesn’t recognize anyone out here, but maybe there are people from Lance’s classes. “Hunk, right? Or someone else?”

“Are you trying to ask if I’m single?” Lance counters, his tone playful. Despite himself, Keith starts to blush.

“No, it- I was just curious!” he protests. Lance grins, waving him off.

“I came with Hunk and a few other friends,” he explains, glancing around. “Been trying to find them for a while, but they seem to have disappeared.”

“Yeah, me too.” Keith looks down, suddenly feeling awkward again. “Hey, maybe we could stick together while we-”

“Allura!” Lance shouts, eyes drawn to something over Keith’s shoulder. “Over here!”

Keith turns to see a girl he doesn’t recognize pushing through the crowd towards them. “That’s Allura,” Lance says from his side. “I came with her, too.”

“Oh,” Keith replies, his stomach dropping suddenly. Allura is beautiful--tall, with flawless skin and thick, full hair. He glances sideways at Lance, who has all of his attention on her.

_ They must be together, _ he realizes with a start.  _ Of course. Lance is a great guy, after all. Why wouldn’t he be in a relationship? _

Not that he cares, either. Why would he? He’s only met Lance twice before, and both times Lance had been there for work obligations only. He has no  _ reason _ to be jealous of Allura. He and Lance are barely friends as it is.

“Lance! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

“Same here, Princess.” Lance slings an arm around Allura’s shoulders with a grin, then turns back to Keith. “Keith, this is Allura Boatema. Allura, this is my friend, Keith- er…”

“Keith Yeun,” Keith supplies, sticking a hand out to shake. Allura glances down at it for a second before moving away from Lance and pulling him into a hug.

“It’s great to meet you!” she exclaims, squeezing him tightly. “I’m Allura. Any friend of Lance is a friend of mine.”

“Allura, you’re gonna suffocate him,” Lance laughs as she pulls back. “Sorry. I think she might be drunk.”

“I’m not drunk!” Allura protests, crossing her arms. “I just haven’t been to a party in forever! And you know how I love meeting new people.”

“Yes, you’re very friendly,” Lance agrees. “Do you know where Hunk and Lotor ran off to, or have we lost them, too?”

“I don’t know, honestly,” Allura admits. “I think they might have gotten away from me near the kitchen.”

“Do you think we should find them?” Lance asks, craning his neck to see inside.

“We probably should,” Allura says with a sigh, shaking her head. “If we don’t start looking now, we might never find them.”

“Alright.” Lance nods once, then turns back to Keith. “It was really great to see you,” he says, smiling yet again. “Really. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

“Me too,” Keith agrees, before he realizes what he’s saying.

“It was very nice to meet you!” Allura exclaims, looking a few seconds away from pulling him into another hug. “I hope we’ll see you around!”

“Yeah,” Keith replies quietly. Allura and Lance give him one last nod of acknowledgement before disappearing inside, getting swallowed by the crowd almost immediately.

Keith sighs, shaking his head. He feels weird, and he’s not quite sure why, but it definitely has something to do with Allura leading Lance inside by the hand. Maybe he’s just not used to seeing Pidge’s not-Big Brother outside of their hour a week, or maybe Allura’s friendly energy has him on edge. Whatever the case, it most likely won’t matter by tomorrow.

He shivers, suddenly realizing how cold it’s gotten outside. How long has he been out here? How had he not realized before?

He turns towards the house, pushing his way through the crowd and avoiding the path to the kitchen. Shiro’s probably hanging around near the outskirts of the party, catching up with classmates.

Sure enough, he finds his friend a few minutes later, talking with a senior he’s seen a few times before. Shiro notices him almost immediately, saying a quick goodbye to the senior before gesturing to the space next to him. Keith steps forward and leans against the wall beside him.

“Having fun?” Shiro asks, holding his cup up as an offering. Keith wrinkles his nose at it.

“Yeah,” he replies. “Lots of fun.”

“What’s up with you? You look broody.”

“I’m not broody.”

Shiro leans closer, examining him for a second. “You really are,” he concludes.

“It’s just too loud in here,” Keith replies, shrugging. “I forgot how rowdy college kids are.”

“Sure,” Shiro says, but drops the subject anyway. “You want to take off? I’ve got a busy day tomorrow and I want to be well-rested for it.”

“Alright,” Keith agrees, pushing off against the wall. “Are we walking or getting a ride?”

“I thought we could walk,” Shiro replies, then downs the rest of whatever’s in his cup. “That alright with you?”

“Yeah, fine,” Keith says. “Let’s get going.”

He passes the kitchen on the way out, catching a glimpse of Lance’s blue eyes and Allura’s perfect hair before Shiro leads him out of the room. They seem to have found their friends, if the other two figures hovering near them are anything to go by. Well, good for them.

* * *

Once again, Pidge pulls Keith out of his house with threats and loud noises and guilt. Lance is already inside when they arrive, sitting on the couch with his bag and his stupid nametag. The blue folder from before is gone, replaced with a stack of board games.

“I got a ride today,” Lance explains as they settle around the table.  _ Allura _ , Keith thinks.  _ Of course _ .

“So you decided to bring a bunch of board games?” Pidge asks. “What happened to our Legendary Defenders rematch?”

“We can still do that,” Lance says, “but I thought board games would be fun, too. We probably don’t have time for  _ Monopoly _ , but I’ve got  _ Sorry!  _ and  _ Trouble  _ and  _ Pictionary _ .”

“You just keep these lying around your dorm?” Keith asks, surveying the stack of games.

“Nah. They’re my mom’s,” Lance explains. “She gave me the ride.”

“Oh.”

“Man, I haven’t played some of these in years,” Pidge says, running her finger along the  _ Monopoly _ box. “I guess it wouldn’t be too bad to replay them.”

“Which one are you thinking?” Lance asks, leaning forward. “I’m up for anything.”

“Can we play  _ Sorry! _ ?” Pidge asks, eyes bright. “That was like, my favorite one when I was a kid.”

“Yeah, totally!” Lance exclaims. “My brother used to like that one, too.”

Keith glances nervously at Pidge, remembering her strict  _ no brother talk _ rule, but she seems totally normal. Apparently other peoples’ brothers are fine for conversation.

“Keith?” Lance waves his hand in front of Keith’s face, trying to get his attention. “Is  _ Sorry! _ okay with you?”

“Yeah,” Keith agrees, “of course.”

“Great! Color of choice?”

“Red,” Keith says, almost automatically.

“I’ll be green,” Pidge adds. “Let me guess--blue?”

“Yep,” Lance says, pulling the board out of the box. “Classic Lance.”

Keith helps set the board up while Pidge moves everything else off the table and Lance pulls out the blue, red, and green pieces. “Did you know that the rules to  _ Sorry! _ changed in 2013?” he chatters, placing the green pieces in their place. “In the new version, you can start once you pull any even-numbered card, and each player only has three pieces, not four.”

“Fascinating,” Keith says sarcastically, stacking the deck of cards in the center of the board. “Why do you know that, anyway?”

“Hunk and I totally used to dominate our school’s trivia night,” Lance explains. “And I seem to remember things best when they aren’t actually important.”

“That’s useful,” Pidge jokes, rotating the board so the green pieces are in front of her. Keith switches places with Lance, moving to Pidge’s other side to be near the red pieces.

“Does everyone remember the rules?” Lance asks, looking between the two of them. Pidge nods, and Keith shrugs, so they decide to start and see who’s forgotten what as they go.

It takes Lance six turns before he pulls a two card, meaning he’s finally allowed to move one of his pieces out of the Start section. By that time, Keith and Pidge have two pieces each already on the board, and as soon as Lance moves his piece for the first time, Pidge uses an eleven card to bump one of Keith’s back to the start.

“You could say  _ sorry _ ,” Lance points out as Pidge places the red piece back in its start pod.

“Nah.” Pidge waves the idea away dismissively. “That’s too… nice? I’d rather say something cool and mean.”

“Eleven,” Keith says, grabbing his last piece and switching it with Pidge’s before setting hers back in the green pod.

“What?! Seriously, Keith?” Pidge exclaims, whirling back to him.

“Sorry,” Keith replies, shrugging. It’s a lie.

“That’s how you do it,” Lance says, leaning back and looking at Keith appraisingly. “Take notes, Pidge.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Pidge grumbles, sinking back down. “Your turn, I guess.”

Lance draws another two, losing his turn. Pidge moves her piece four spaces, and Keith moves his second piece back out onto the board with a one card. It takes over twenty minutes for the three of them to get all of their pieces onto the board, and by that time Pidge already has one of hers back in the safety pod. Keith draws a three and moves his first piece two spaces towards the red pod.

Lance reaches forward and draws a card from the center, an evil grin spreading across his face as he reads it. “Pidge,” he sing-songs, turning the card to face the two of them, “it’s revenge time.”

“Please, no!” Pidge pleads, clasping her hands together dramatically. “Take Keith instead!”

“Sorry, can’t do that,” Lance says, switching his piece with Pidge’s and setting hers back in the green pod. Keith grins, despite himself.

Fifteen minutes later, Keith has three of his pieces in the red pod, Pidge has two, and Lance is back to having only one piece on the board. “Your luck will betray you in your hour of need,” he quotes, shaking his head with a sigh as Pidge moves her third piece into its pod.

“Huh?” she asks, confused.

“Oh, nothing. I guess my luck’s just not at its best today.”

Keith rolls his eyes, pulling a card from the top of the deck and moving his last piece three places forward. Maybe Lance used all his luck at the party the day before, with Allura and Hunk and- what was it, Lotor? They seemed to have had a great time together, if the darkish bags under Lance’s eyes are anything to go by. He probably stayed up late with his friends and his girlfriend, laughing and grinning and telling jokes like the eternally happy people they are.

_ Good for them _ , he thinks sarcastically, repeating his thoughts from the night before.

“Keith?” Lance asks, leaning towards him with a concerned expression. “You okay, dude?”

“Huh? Oh, I’m fine,” Keith says, blinking back to the present. Why’s he so hung up about Lance and Allura being at the party together? Or Lance and Allura being together at all? He doesn’t even know Allura, and Lance is barely more than an acquaintance. Maybe he’s just annoyed at Lance for being irresponsible the day before he’s supposed to visit Pidge.

Yes, that must be it. He’s probably still feeling a little overprotective of Pidge; he has been ever since Matt died, but after their first encounter with Lance, it seems to have intensified. Surely that’s why he’s been feeling so weird since seeing Lance at the party yesterday.

“Dude, it’s your turn,” Pidge says, elbowing him in the side. Keith blinks again, reaching forward to draw another card. It’s a three--the exact number of spaces left between his fourth game piece and the pod.

“Huh,” he says, setting the card down face-up on the board and glancing towards Lance. “I guess my luck is okay today.”

Pidge snorts, then turns to Lance. “Want to play for second place?”

“We all know you’d win,” Lance points out, looking down at his lone piece. “Second place goes to you, Pidge.”

“Aw, but it’s less satisfying that way!” Pidge complains, pouting. “What if I promise not to use eleven cards on you?”

“I don’t think it would make any difference,” Keith says, earning himself another elbow to the ribs.

“You know what, Pidge?” Lance pauses dramatically, a slow smile spreading across his face. “You’re on.”

* * *

“Shit,” Lance sighs, running a hand through his hair. They’re standing on the Holts’ porch, and Keith is just about to head towards his own house, but something about Lance’s tone makes him pause.

“What’s up?” he asks hesitantly, turning back around. Lance is staring at his phone, hand still tangled in his short brown hair, biting his lip.

“My ride’s not coming,” Lance explains, sighing again. “I’ll have to text Hunk.”

“Can’t you take the bus?” Keith suggests, glancing towards the bus stop at the end of the street. “If you get off near 23rd, it’s only a five minute walk to Iverson.”

“I’m not headed to Iverson,” Lance says, a crease appearing between his eyebrows as he taps away at his phone. “I was supposed to visit my mom today, but something else came up for her earlier, and she says she doesn’t feel like driving anymore.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Keith says sympathetically, reaching out to pat Lance on the shoulder before he can stop himself.

“Ah, it’s alright,” Lance replies, shaking his head as he pockets his phone. “Hunk’s family lives pretty close to my mom, so he can borrow their car and give me a ride. It won’t be too long.”

“Oh, good,” Keith says awkwardly.

“Yeah. I’m just glad my mom’s getting into other stuff again. For a while she just stayed at home and… sat around. Didn’t do anything. I was getting worried.”

“Oh…?” Keith’s not sure what to say. He vaguely remembers Lance talking about needing to move out of his house the first time they’d met, but he can’t remember if he’d said why. He’d ask, but he’s not really sure if it’s his place.

It’s weird seeing Lance frazzled and distressed. Keith’s so used to seeing Lance smiling and laughing and joking around with Pidge that anything relatively negative seems eerie and strange on him. He kind of really doesn’t like it.

“Sorry, Keith,” Lance says, turning to him apologetically. “I didn’t mean to keep you here. Don’t worry about me, alright?”

But Keith  _ is _ kind of worried, or at least lightly concerned. Before he knows what he’s saying, he blurts, “Why don’t you come wait over at my house?”

“Huh?” Lance looks over at Shiro’s house quickly. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to bother you guys…”

“It’s fine,” Keith continues in a rush. “Shiro’s with his friends at the campus, and I don’t have anything to do, so it’s really not a big deal.”

“Are you sure?” Lance asks, tilting his head ever so slightly.

“Yeah, I’m sure. We’ve got water and orange juice,” Keith offers, smiling awkwardly. Slowly, Lance smiles back.

“If you say so,” he agrees at last. Keith nods once, stiffly, then turns and starts making his way back home. He hears footsteps on the porch behind him, but doesn’t dare look back to see if Lance is actually following him. He’s not going to force his neighbor’s Big Brother into his house if said Big Brother doesn’t want to come.

He fumbles for his keys and unlocks the door as fast as he can. Is it weird that he invited Lance over? Or is it just the neighborly thing to do?

Lance follows him into the living room and sits on the couch, just like he had two weeks ago. Keith takes a seat opposite him, wondering if he should offer drinks again. He decides against it, seeing as Lance will probably be leaving soon anyway.

“So, what’s up with you today?” Lance asks, propping his chin on his hand.

“What do you mean?”

“You were all, I don’t know…” Lance waves his hands around vaguely. “Spacey? You kept zoning out on us.”

“Sorry,” Keith says, shrugging. “I guess I’m just distracted.”

“You’re sure I’m not keeping you from something?”

“No, you’re fine.” Keith shakes his head, running a hand through his hair nervously. “I’m just- I don’t know.”

“Tired?” Lance suggests, leaning forward. “Did you party too hard last night?”

“I left pretty early,” Keith admits. “I saw you found your friends, though.”

“Oh, yeah. Lotor sure is slippery when he wants to be,” Lance says with a laugh. “Allura’s really tall, so she managed to see him and Hunk through the crowd.”

“That’s lucky for you.”

“Yeah, you’re telling me,” Lance agrees. “Sorry we couldn’t talk longer, though. If I’m being honest, I kinda wanted to stick around with you for a while, but Allura-”

“I get it,” Keith interrupts. “I mean, anyone would rather hang out with their friends than with…”

He trails off, unsure of where to go. He still doesn’t know what he and Lance count as. They have each others’ phone numbers, but they don’t use them. They see each other regularly, but Lance gets paid to be there. And they get along well enough, but then again, Lance seems to get along well with everyone. Are they friends? Acquaintances? Does Keith technically count as one of Lance’s clients? He really doesn’t know.

Luckily for him, Lance seems to read his mind. “What, are you saying  _ we _ aren’t friends?” he asks, light and gentle. “Don’t sell yourself short, Keith. Hanging out with you would have been great, but Hunk has bad anxiety, and Lotor was my ride home, so I needed to stick with them. I’m sorry if it seemed like I was trying to ditch you.”

Well, now Keith feels like the biggest jerk in the world. Lance shouldn’t even  _ be _ apologizing, and yet here he is, all sincere and genuine. “It didn’t seem like that,” he says, because really, it hadn’t. “I really do get it, Lance. I’m glad you found your friends.”

“Did you ever find who you were looking for?” Lance asks, changing the topic.

“Oh, yeah. We headed out together right after,” Keith replies. Lance raises his eyebrow suggestively, a smirk appearing on his face.

“Oh? You two went home together, did you?” he asks, tone teasing.

“No!” Keith splutters, shaking his head violently. “I mean, yeah, but it wasn’t like that! Shiro’s my roommate, okay?”

“I see,” Lance says, nodding thoughtfully, although his smile gives him away.

“You asshole,” Keith groans, flopping back into his chair. “You already knew that, didn’t you?”

“Maybe a little bit,” Lance admits sheepishly. “And there’s not, like, anyone else you’re seeing? No special someone in your life?”

Now it’s Keith’s turn to raise an eyebrow, moving forward in his chair. “Are you trying to ask if I’m single?” he repeats, remembering Lance’s words from the night before.

“What if I am?” Lance replies without a trace of hesitation. As if on cue, his phone beeps in his pocket, summoning him outside.

“I’d better go,” Lance says, standing and pulling his backpack up over his shoulder. “Thanks for letting me hang out, Keith. I’ll see you next week, okay?”

Keith stands as well, his mind still stuck on  _ what if I am _ . “Yeah, of course,” he says dazedly. “See you next week.”

Lance grins, turning to wave before he disappears outside, leaving Keith to stare blankly at the door, wondering how Lance always leaves him feeling so strange, and why he doesn’t mind it at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I was a day late with this update, so the next one will be in two days instead of three. As always, thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Keith is expecting Pidge to show up on his doorstep early in the morning to drag him over to her house. He’s even prepared this time, with a fresh-made thermos of coffee and a fully-charged phone in case Lance decides to focus on Pidge alone instead of the both of them this time. He’s wondering what they’ll do today, whether it’ll be more board games, or pre-planned bonding activities, or the Legendary Defenders rematch they’ve been waiting for.

So when he gets the text from Pidge, it makes sense that he’s disappointed. He’d been prepared to go over and hang out, and now he’s got a full hour with nothing to do except sit around and do homework. Having his plans change so quickly is annoying, and the fact that he won’t get to see Lance today… Well, like he said, he’s disappointed. He’d actually kind of started to like hanging out with him and Pidge.

_ Lance isn’t coming today, so you can stay home, _ is all Pidge’s text says. Keith wonders if there’s any more explanation available, but he doesn’t know if he should ask. It’s not really his business, is it? Lance is probably just swamped with work, or maybe he had more important plans. After all, hanging out with a high schooler and her neighbor probably isn’t at the top of his priorities list, even if he does take his job seriously.

But something about Lance skipping out on one of their sessions just doesn’t sit right with him. Lance cares a lot about his job, and it had almost seemed like he’d started to care about Pidge, too. Keith finds himself worrying, even though it’s really not his place to.

_ Do you know why? _ he texts back, tapping his fingers against the counter as he waits impatiently for a reply.

_ Not sure. He just said it wasn’t a good time for him, _ Pidge writes.

That really doesn’t sound good. Keith bites his lip, opening his contacts and staring at Lance’s number nervously. He shouldn’t intrude, especially if  _ not a good time _ means something personal is going on. Lance might not want to talk to  _ anyone  _ right now, let alone an almost stranger like Keith, but he somehow feels the need to reach out. What if Lance needs something? What if he’s  _ really _ not okay?

He goes back and forth for a few minutes more, until Shiro wanders into the kitchen and starts to pour himself a cup of coffee.

“What’s up with you?” he asks curiously, leaning against the counter.

“Nothing,” Keith says dismissively, pulling his phone closer to his chest. “Just thinking.”

“Sure,” Shiro replies, disbelieving. “Well, I’ve got work soon. You sticking around for breakfast, or is Pidge coming over soon?”

“Pidge isn’t coming today. Lance can’t make it,” Keith explains. Shiro nods sagely, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Well, good luck with whatever it is you’re just thinking about,” he says, turning to the fridge and pulling out a cup of yogurt.

“Thanks,” Keith grumbles, turning back to his phone. Lance’s contact stares back at him intimidatingly, the screen darkening from being left on for too long. It’s really none of his business, but he’s admittedly worried, and it really couldn’t hurt to check…

His mind made up, he opens a new text conversation and types Lance’s name into the recipient bar. Before he can overthink his decision and change his mind, he types out a quick message:  _ Lance, this is Keith. Are you doing okay? _

He hits  _ send _ quickly, then stares at his screen, re-reading his message. That wasn’t so bad, right? It’s not a big deal or anything. He’s just checking in.

His phone flashes a minute or two later, just as he’s about to retreat to his room. He opens the message with baited breath, trying not to give himself away in front of Shiro. Lance has sent two messages in reply to his.

_ Hey, thanks for asking, Keith. _

Followed by,  _ I’m just not feeling great today. _

Keith glances up at Shiro nervously before turning back to his phone and typing,  _ Is there anything I can do? _ He doesn’t want to intrude on Lance’s life, but there’s no harm in offering. He’s just being a good person. Anyone else would do the same in his place.

_ Don’t worry about me, _ Lance’s next message reads.  _ It’s better that way. _

_ What do you mean? _ Keith pushes. Lance sounds… really off. If Keith didn’t watch him put the number in his phone himself, he’d almost think that he texted the wrong person. After all, someone as cheerful and bright as Lance can’t possibly text like this all the time.

“Something wrong?” Shiro asks, raising another eyebrow at him. Keith sighs and shakes his head.

“Just some stuff,” he mumbles, turning and heading away from the kitchen. Lance’s icon appears in the corner of the screen next to an ellipse, indicating that he’s typing. A few seconds later, a new message pops up.

_ Forget it. You wouldn’t understand. _

_ Lance, I hate to admit it, but I’m kinda worried, _ Keith writes, biting his lip. He’s positive that he’s overstepping now, but he can hardly bring himself to care. Even if Lance gets mad at him for being pushy and nosy, at least he can say that he tried to help.  _ Are you sure I can’t do anything for you? Anything at all? _ he adds belatedly.

It takes five minutes for Lance to respond, and when he does, he only sends two messages. One reads  _ come over _ , and the other is the name of his dorm building and room number. Keith blinks in confusion, wondering if he’s actually serious, but somehow it feels like Lance would just play it off as a joke if he asked. So instead he types  _ okay _ and springs off the couch to grab his jacket and shoes.

He briefly considers stopping at the store to get flowers or soup from the deli, but he reigns himself in just barely. Both of those things seem like too much for a person he’s just barely met. Hell, this whole situation is too much for a person he’s just met, but Lance  _ asked _ him to come over, and it’s not like he’s got anything better to do.

The bus is just pulling up to his stop when he leaves the house, so he has to sprint to catch it. The bus driver gives him an exasperated look as he boards, but says nothing, much to his relief. He’s got enough to worry about without the added guilt of pissing off a transit employee.

Lance doesn’t send him any more messages, so he’s not sure if he should keep going or call the whole thing off and turn back. Something in his gut is telling him to keep going, though. Somehow he knows that Lance shouldn’t be alone, no matter what he says. Maybe it’s his experience with Pidge that helps him realize this, or maybe he’s just interpreting Lance’s mood the way he wants to, but going to visit him just feels like the right thing to do.

He heads towards Lance’s dorm as soon as he’s off the bus, glad he recognizes the name. The door to the building is propped open due to the nice weather, so he makes his way inside without being noticed and catches an elevator to the third floor. He gets lost a little bit, but soon enough finds himself in front of Lance’s door.

Should he knock? Or just try the handle? What if it’s not Lance who comes to meet him at the door, but his roommate instead? How would Keith explain himself?

Hesitantly, he reaches forward and knocks three times on the door before pulling his hand back. There’s a long stretch of silence where he seriously considers bailing (and really, who could blame him?) before the door is yanked open from the inside.

Lance stands in front of him, heavy bags under his red-tinged eyes, his hair a mess and his skin ashy and faded. He’s got a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and he’s wearing soft blue sleep pants and a worn gray T-shirt. Quite frankly, he looks like shit.

“You actually came,” Lance says, attempting a weak smile that only manages to fall flat. His voice is rough and scratchy, and Keith almost winces hearing it.

“Yeah, I did,” he replies, trying not to let his reluctance show. “You seemed like you needed company.”

Lance scoffs, but it’s empty-sounding and dry. Without another word, he turns and heads further into his dorm, leaving the door open for Keith.

“Are you sick?” Keith asks, stepping inside and looking around. The dorm is actually a pretty decent size, although it still makes him glad to live off campus. “I mean, did you catch a cold or a bug or something? You don’t look so great…”

“Great observation,” Lance croaks, settling down on what Keith assumes is his bed. “I guess you could say I’m sick. Sure feels that way.”

“What happened? Are you just having a bad day?”

“Sure,” Lance says in that same empty-sounding voice. “A bad day.” He tries for another smile, but once again, it falls flat.

Keith hovers awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Once again he’s rushed into a bad decision without truly thinking it through, and now he has to accept the consequences, no matter how uncomfortable they may be.

“Sorry it’s so messy in here,” Lance says, making no motions to tidy up.

“I don’t care,” Keith replies too quickly. Really, it’s not so bad. Pidge’s room is much messier, and he spends a fair amount of time in there, so this is nothing to him.

The quick exchange is followed by another minute of tense silence, Lance staring down at his bare feet while Keith stands near-but-not-too-close to him and tries to think of something to say. “Do you want to talk about it?” he offers at last, turning to face Lance.

“I… Not really,” Lance rasps. “I’m sorry. I made you come all the way over here and I’m not even- I mean-”

“Hey,” Keith interrupts, frowning slightly. “Stop that. Nobody  _ made _ me come see you, okay? I came because  _ I _ wanted to.”

“You don’t have to lie to me,” Lance says in a quiet, clipped voice. “It’s not worth it. Just tell me the truth.”

“I  _ am _ telling you the truth,” Keith insists. “Clearly you’re not doing well right now.”

“Clearly,” Lance echoes, empty. “So what? It’ll pass. It always does.”

The last part is muttered so quietly that Keith decides not to mention it. “I want to help,” he says again. “You’re- You’re my friend, Lance. Friends don’t let each other hurt by themselves.”

He’d learned that particular lesson from Shiro the day Matt died. Pidge had locked herself in her room and wouldn’t let him or Colleen or Sam in, no matter what they tried. Defeated, he’d trudged home, only to be reprimanded by Shiro for giving up on a friend in a time of need.

“She won’t talk to anyone!” he’d protested, but Shiro had just shaken his head.

“Try harder,” he’d insisted. “Pidge needs you, even if she can’t admit it. You’re her friend. Now go try again.”

Lance looks up at him again, his eyes glassy and only half focused on him. “I can’t- I don’t know if I can-”

“It’s okay,” Keith assures him, drifting closer. “You don’t have to talk about it. If you want to, you can, but I’m not going to push you.”

“You’re not?” Lance asks, staring up at him questioningly.

“No,” Keith says. “I really don’t think you should be alone right now, but if you need some space-”

“No,” Lance interrupts, shaking his head and reaching out of his blanket cape to grab Keith’s sleeve. “Stay. Please.”

If Keith’s not mistaken, he’d say that Lance’s eyes are a little more watery than they’d been before. Despite the awkwardness and Lance’s weird, sad, self-deprecating emotional state, he’s really glad that he’d decided to visit. He imagines Lance sitting alone on his bed, nobody to talk to or keep him company, and again he thinks of Pidge the day Matt had died.

_ Nobody should have to hurt by themselves, _ he thinks, patting Lance’s hand with his own. “I will,” he promises. “I’ll stay, but I’m making you eat something. And take a shower, or at least brush your teeth.”

“Sure,” Lance agrees dismissively. Keith nods, more to himself than anything, and stands straight, reluctantly pulling his hand away from Lance’s.

“Why don’t you shower and get changed, and I’ll go grab us some food,” he offers. “You’ll feel better afterwards.”

“I don’t feel like it.”

“You just agreed to it, though.”

Lance sighs, as if the mere thought of taking a shower has tired him out, but after a few seconds he hauls himself to his feet and goes to search through his tiny dresser.

“I’ll be back in half an hour,” Keith promises, glad he’d grabbed his wallet before leaving. Lance makes a noncommittal grunt in response, which he figures is as good as he’s gonna get, so he slips out into the hall.

There are a lot of places to get food around campus, but none of them seem quite right. The Starbucks he works at serves overpriced pastries and coffee, neither of which are what he’d define as comfort food. There’s a mini mart on the other side of campus that sells chips, sodas, candy, junk food, and greasy chicken wings and corn dogs, but Keith doesn’t exactly trust the sanitation levels in there. He finally settles on an assortment of different things--a loaf of dense sourdough bread with gravy from a bakery a few blocks away; a box of Instant Mac n’ Cheese from the mini-mart; and two pieces of lemon pound cake from Starbucks.

By the time he returns to the room (after heating up the mac n’ cheese in the communal microwave) it’s been closer to forty five minutes than thirty. He knocks twice, waiting for Lance’s muffled “Come in” before he opens the door.

Lance actually  _ does _ look better, if only by a little. His hair is damp and unruly, the water helping to straighten and lengthen each strand, and he’s dressed in a soft pair of light blue jeans and an oversized Adidas hoodie. He’s sitting on his bed again, but he looks up when Keith enters the room.

“I can pay you back,” is the first thing he says, eyeing the bags Keith has in hand.

“Don’t worry about it.” Keith waves him off, setting the food down on the floor. (Lance and his roommate haven’t done much furniture shopping, so there’s not really a better place to put it.) “I got pasta and bread with gravy, and cake for dessert.”

Lance raises an eyebrow, looking a few seconds away from offering to pay him back again, so Keith opens the first bag and pulls out a paper bowl of mac n’ cheese. “Here,” he says, handing it to Lance along with a plastic fork. “Eat up.”

“Thanks,” Lance says, accepting the bowl easily. He takes a hesitant bite, chewing slowly before swallowing. He looks down at the bowl, surprised.

“Good?” Keith prompts, awkwardly moving to take a seat next to Lance.

“Yeah,” Lance says after a short pause. He lifts another forkful to his mouth, and Keith counts it as a win.

They eat in quiet camaraderie, moving from the pasta to the bread and gravy, which has cooled since Keith brought it upstairs. As he’s chewing on a piece of sourdough, he thinks again about how weird it is that he’s here with Lance. They’d only met each other for the first time a month ago, and now he’s in Lance’s dorm, making sure he takes care of himself while he’s sick. It’s strange, but it doesn’t feel wrong at all.

“Thank you,” Lance says when Keith hands him a slice of pound cake. He makes eye contact and Keith realizes that he genuinely looks grateful. He’s not just saying it--he  _ means _ it. He even sounds more like himself than he had earlier in the day.

“Of course,” Keith says before taking a bite out of his own slice of cake. It’s sweet and lemony, and the icing cracks and sticks to his fingers and lips. He licks it off quickly before Lance can see, then takes another, more careful bite.

They finish their cake quickly, still sitting in silence. Keith licks the stickiness off of his fingers before turning to look at Lance, who has a smudge of white icing right above his lip.

“Here,” Keith says, reaching over to grab a napkin from one of the bags, then using it to wipe the icing away. Lance actually smiles when he pulls away, and Keith counts it as another win. (He also finds it kind of concerning that he’s missed that smile… a lot.)

He turns away to gather the dirty bowls and napkins and pastry bags, shoving them all into one of the empty bags and wrapping that one in another. He drops the bundle into the trash can by the foot of Lance’s bed and takes a minute to think of a game plan.

He’s been here about an hour and forty-five minutes, seeing as it’s almost one in the afternoon. There isn’t really anywhere else he has to be, and he  _ had _ knocked most of his homework and assignments out of the way the night before, so there’s nothing preventing him from staying here for a little longer. And even if Lance is feeling better, he might not want to be alone just yet.

“I’m guessing you don’t have weekend classes today or anything,” he says, turning back to face Lance.

“No,” Lance confirms. “I don’t have anywhere to be.”

“What do you normally do on the weekends?”

Lance shrugs. “Go out with friends. Do homework. Work-work. Visit my mom.”

“What do you do to relax?” Keith specifies. “Read? Listen to music? What do you feel like doing now?”

“I don’t know,” Lance says, frowning slightly. “I don’t know anything.”

“Why don’t we watch something?” Keith suggests quickly. “We can put on a movie or a YouTube video or something. Does that sound okay?”

“Yeah,” Lance agrees, turning and reaching clumsily for his laptop. Keith lets him pull up a video while he checks his phone. There are two texts from Shiro waiting for him.

_ How’s thinking going? _

_ You got everything figured out? _

He types out a quick  _ Yeah _ , followed by  _ Be home soon. _ He doesn’t necessarily know if it’s true, but he doesn’t want Shiro to start asking questions he doesn’t have the answer to. Questions like,  _ Why is Lance upset? _ and  _ Why do you care? _

“Is  _ The Princess Bride _ okay with you?” Lance asks, catching his attention. “It… It was my brother’s favorite when he was younger.”

“Yeah, sure,” Keith agrees. He doesn’t understand why Lance doesn’t play  _ his _ favorite movie, but if he wants to watch  _ The Princess Bride _ , Keith’s not gonna judge him for it.

They settle on his bed with their backs against the wall, Lance’s right leg pressed against Keith’s left. They’ve got the lights turned off for atmospheric effect, and Lance’s laptop is propped up between them.

Before they start the movie, Lance pulls the blanket off the floor and wraps one end around himself, then reaches over and drapes the other side over Keith’s shoulders. Keith blinks in surprise, but when Lance moves on without acknowledging it, he figures it must be something he does with all of his friends. Platonic blanket sharing isn’t  _ that _ strange, right?

Lance starts the movie, and despite the fact that he’s seen it before, Keith finds himself getting absorbed. He watches for about half an hour before looking over to see if Lance is alright.

But Lance isn’t paying attention to the movie at all. In fact, he’s looking at Keith.

“What’s up?” Keith asks, reaching over to mute the movie for a little bit. There’s no point in pausing it if Lance hadn’t even been paying attention.

“Why did you come?” Lance asks, staring at him with those ocean blue eyes that seem to have burned themselves into Keith’s memory. He shakes himself, focusing on the question.

“I told you, didn’t I?” he says with a smile he doesn’t entirely feel. “Because I care about you. Because we’re friends.”

“Really?” Lance pushes. Keith can’t tell if he’s asking for confirmation, or something more. He frowns nervously under Lance’s scrutinizing gaze, unsure of what to do.

“I care about you,” is what he ends up sticking with. “I didn’t want you to feel bad, especially if there was something I could have done about it.”

“You didn’t have to,” Lance says quietly, drawing his knees up to his chest. “But I’m glad you did.”

“Me, too,” Keith admits, matching Lance’s volume. Something about this moment seems fragile, like it could all shatter with one wrong move. They stare at each other in the dimly lit room for almost a minute, neither of them daring to move or speak. And then, to Keith’s horror, tears start gathering in Lance’s eyes.

“Hey, woah,” he says, reaching forward to- he doesn’t know, but he does. Lance flinches away, wiping at his eyes furiously before giving up and burying his face in his hands.

“Lance?” Keith asks hesitantly, hand paused halfway between them.

“I’m sorry,” Lance says. It comes out as a quiet sob, which only serves to make Keith’s chest hurt. “I’m really- I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Keith tries, setting a hand on Lance’s shoulder and rubbing in tiny circles. “Hey, Lance? Just let it out, okay?”

Lance lets out another strangled sob, his shoulder shaking under Keith’s hand. He drops his head onto his knees, wrapping his arms around them and gripping his legs. Keith moves closer and wraps his arm around Lance comfortingly, whispering, “It’s okay, you’ll be okay,” whenever he thinks Lance needs it. He doesn’t know what caused Lance to start crying, or what got him into this mood in the first place, but he has an overwhelming urge to help, and he doesn’t know how.

Lance cries and Keith comforts him as best he can and the movie keeps playing on mute, casting long shadows on the dorm walls. Keith counts himself lucky that Lance’s roommate hasn’t walked in on them yet, because he’s not sure how he’d explain this to someone who hadn’t been there before.

Eventually, Lance’s sobs turn into sniffs, coughs, and hiccups. Keith rubs his back through it all, and when Lance finally raises his head, he’s almost got his breathing back under control.

“It will be okay,” Keith says again, not bothering to move his arm. “I promise.”

Lance stares at him with teary eyes before moving even closer, dropping his head onto Keith’s shoulder. Keith almost moves away in surprise, but he manages to stay still.

“No, it won’t,” Lance says after a few seconds. “It was my fault.”

“What?” Keith turns to look down at him, but the other boy won’t meet his eyes. “Lance, what are you talking about?”

“I’m tired, Keith,” Lance says, even quieter. “I’m always tired.”

His hair brushes against Keith’s cheek as he settles in, his shoulder pressed against Keith’s arm, and it’s almost a comforting weight. Keith reaches up to run his fingers through Lance’s hair, which is almost completely dry by now. He’s not exactly comfortable, but it doesn’t matter. If Lance needs someone to lean on, literally or metaphorically, then he’ll be there. Just like he was for Pidge.

He glances down to check on Lance a few minutes later only to find that he’s already asleep, his eyes closed and his breathing light and even. A lone tear has trailed down his cheek, and Keith reaches up to wipe it away as gently as he can. He’s still worried about Lance, especially after the whole crying-shoulder-asleep thing, not to mention whatever “It was my fault” means, but at least he’d gotten him to eat something and take a shower.

He sits there until the end of the movie, letting Lance sleep on his shoulder, and even when the credits roll and the screen dims, he stays. He can’t explain it, but somehow he can’t bring himself to move.

He chooses not to think about why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is up! Thank you so much for your support!


	5. Chapter 5

Working at Starbucks isn’t as charming or fun as some people might believe.

Keith is currently attempting to make two completely different orders at once while more orders pile up. He has already mixed up the ingredients once, and at this point he can’t bring himself to restart the order. The ingredients aren’t allergens, so he feels justified enough.

The other guy on shift, Rolo, is currently trying to move through the line as quickly as he can without messing up any orders. Right now he’s talking to a disgruntled looking man in a punk-rock T shirt and jeans that look like they came straight from the 2000s. Keith wants to roll his eyes, but instead he turns his attention back to the orders, setting them on top of the counter and calling out the names on the cups.

“Hurry it up, Yeun,” Rolo snaps, grabbing two cups from the stack and moving to make the drinks. Keith sighs, then turns to help the next customer.

“Hey, Keith,” Lance says, flashing him a small smile.

“Lance,” Keith says, blinking in surprise. “I- Um, how are you?”

“I’m better, thanks,” Lance replies. And he really does seem to be doing better. He’s dressed normally, his hair is washed and his eyes are brighter and less tired. It’s only been four days, but he seems to have almost completely recovered, aside from the lingering (but lighter) bags under his eyes. “I didn’t realize you worked here, dude. Otherwise I would have stopped in to say hi.”

“Ah, that’s alright,” Keith says, waving him off. “We’re pretty busy most of the time, anyway.”

“Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to hold you guys up.” Lance looks away sheepishly, scratching at his cheek.

“No, it’s alright,” Keith assures him. “Besides, I like talking to you.”

_ You didn’t have to say that part, _ his brain points out unhelpfully.

Luckily, Lance doesn’t seem bothered by his comment. “Oh, yeah!” he says, smacking himself in the forehead comically. “I totally forgot to introduce you guys. Keith, this is my friend Hunk. Hunk, Keith.”

Keith turns his attention to the boy standing next to Lance. He’s tall, his dark hair tied back with a yellow bandana to reveal warm brown eyes and a gentle smile. “Nice to meet you,” Keith says, deciding immediately that he likes him.

“Same to you,” Hunk replies. “It’s nice to finally meet the famous Keith Yeun. Lance talks about you a lot, you know.”

“Hunk!” Lance protests, elbowing his friend in the side. “I think that’s enough getting to know each other for now. And of course, you already know Allura.”

For the first time, Keith notices Lance’s girlfriend standing on his other side, looking perfect as usual. She’s got a hand on Lance’s shoulder, and she’s smiling at the two of them fondly.

_ He has a girlfriend, _ Keith remembers, his stomach dropping suddenly. What was he thinking, going over to visit Lance when he has perfectly good friends and a  _ girlfriend _ who can probably take much better care of him? He grits his teeth, angry at himself for thinking  _ he _ of all people could help Lance.

“Keith?” Lance is looking at him with concern, so Keith shakes his head and pastes on a smile.

“It’s nice to see you again, Allura,” he says, trying his very best to mean it. Allura seems really nice and sweet and caring, and she and Lance are lucky to have each other. He’s not about to become a jealous jerk just because-

There’s that word again.  _ Jealous. _ He’s not jealous, he’s just- just…

“Nice to see you as well, Keith!” Allura replies, smiling brightly. “I hope you’re doing well.”

“Thanks,” Keith says, unsure of what to reply with. “So, what can I get you guys today?”

“A caramel macchiato for me, please,” Lance says, then turns expectantly to Hunk.

“I’ll have the same,” Hunk adds. “Allura?”

“A chai for me, please,” Allura says, still smiling.

“Will that be all?” Keith asks, writing the three orders on their respective cups.

“Oh, and a slice of lemon pound cake,” Lance says. Keith glances up from the third cup, catching his eye for a second with a raised eyebrow. “What? I blame you. You got me into them, okay?”

“Okay,” Keith says, setting the cups down and taking out a paper bag for the cake. Rolo picks up the chai cup and starts pouring tea inside, leaving the macchiatos to Keith.

Lance, Hunk, and Allura talk amongst themselves as Keith bags the cake and slides it over to Lance, but when he goes to start the other drinks, Lance follows him down on the other side of the bar.

“Hey,” he says, quieter. “Thanks for coming over the other day. You really helped me out, you know?”

“Of course,” Keith says, focusing his gaze on the cup labeled  _ Hunk _ . “That’s what friends are for, after all. I’m sorry if I, you know, overstepped or something.”

“You didn’t,” Lance assures him. Keith glances up and finds him smiling gently at him.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks, setting the cup down and leaning on the counter to get closer. Lance nods, although his smile dims a bit.

“I’m alright,” he says. “I just have a hard time every now and then. It’s nothing to worry about.”

_ A little late for that, _ Keith thinks. “Well, I’m glad to hear you’re doing better,” he says instead.

“Yeah. Thanks again for helping me out, dude. I mean it.”

“Keith!” Rolo snaps from the counter. “Quit talking to your boyfriend and get back to work!”

“He’s not-” Keith starts, but Rolo’s already turned away. He sighs and shakes his head. “Sorry about him. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“It’s alright,” Lance says, unaffected. “I should let you get back to work.”

“Right. Um…” Keith finishes putting the whipped cream onto the macchiatos, then slides them over the counter. “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” Lance says, turning to motion Allura and Hunk over. “We’d better go, but I’ll see you again soon, alright?”

“Yeah,” Keith agrees, attempting a smile. “See you.”

Lance turns and follows his friends outside, turning to wave at Keith before he goes. Keith watches him walk away and disappear around the corner, finding himself wishing Lance could have stayed a little longer. He’s probably got classes to go to and things to do, but still.

“Keith!” Rolo exclaims. “Come on, dude!”

“Sorry,” Keith apologizes, turning to help the next customer. Surprisingly enough, it’s Shiro who’s standing on the other side of the counter.

“Hey,” he says, leaning on the counter. “Who was that guy you were talking to?”

“That’s just Lance,” Keith explains. “You know, the guy getting paid to hang out with Pidge.”

“That’s the guy you’re spending time with every weekend?” Shiro asks, raising an eyebrow. “Wow. I thought he’d be more of a jerk.”

“What? No, he’s really nice.” Keith frowns, confused. “Why’d you think he was a jerk?”

“I don’t know,” Shiro says, shrugging. “You acted like going to hang out with him and Pidge was the worst thing in the world. I figured you didn’t like him.”

“No, I like him. I just- I didn’t know him that well before, so…”

“Of course,” Shiro says, but his tone is teasing. “I won’t hold you up. Could I get a sweetened large iced tea?”

“One iced tea, coming up.” Keith writes  _ Shiro _ on a plastic cup and hands it over to Rolo, who sighs in annoyance before going to make the drink. “Heading to classes?” he asks, just to make small talk. The crowd inside has dissipated fairly quickly and there’s no one waiting behind Shiro, thanks to Rolo’s quick work.

“Yeah, just needed something cold to drink,” Shiro replies. “It’s hot out today, huh?”

“I guess.” The Starbucks he works at has fairly good air conditioning, so he hasn’t noticed the heat. “Didn’t you take the bus over, though?”

“I missed it, and it was quicker to walk,” Shiro explains. Keith looks him over for a second, noting that he  _ does _ look pretty sweaty and tired.

“You could always get your own car,” he points out. He’s been pestering Shiro to buy a car ever since they moved in together, but Shiro always refuses, saying Keith can get one of his own if he really wants to. Truthfully, neither of them can afford it.

“Here,” Rolo says, setting the cup of iced tea down on the counter. Shiro dips his head in thanks, grabbing a straw and shoving it through the hole at the top of the lid.

“You know I don’t want to get a car,” he says, then takes a sip.

“Yeah, you’ve told me,” Keith sighs. “Good luck with your classes.”

“Thanks. See you back at home?”

“Yeah. See you.”

Shiro heads off in the direction of the main building, and Keith grabs a towel to wipe down the counter. He swears he’d just cleaned it, but it’s already sticky again.

“You’ve got too many visitors,” Rolo complains as he passes by, sighing dramatically.

“Sorry,” Keith says with a shrug. It’s not his fault coffee’s the greatest thing ever created, after all.

* * *

The heat wave continues throughout the week and only seems to grow hotter over the weekend. By the time Saturday rolls around, Keith is reluctant to leave the house for an entirely different reason than he’d had a month ago.

“It’s too hot,” he complains to Pidge through the door.

“You think  _ you’re _ hot? I’m the one who has to stand around outside,” she argues impatiently. “You do realize that if you would hurry up, we could get back to my  _ air conditioned _ house, right?”

“I’m already in an air conditioned house,” Keith protests.

“Well, I’m not leaving your porch until you come out, and my mom isn’t paying Lance to stand around and do nothing for an hour.”

Keith sighs. He’s not sure where he and Lance stand as of now, and he’s almost kind of apprehensive about seeing him again. But he  _ had _ promised Pidge and Colleen, and it’s not like a little awkwardness is going to ruin his sort-of friendship with Lance. They’ve already had plenty of awkwardness, and they’re still friendly enough.

“Fine,” he groans, hauling himself off the couch and reaching for his keys. He chooses to forego his jacket, since it’s already so hot outside and he’s not sure what Lance has planned for the day, but he  _ does _ run back to his room to change his shirt and run a brush through his hair before he meets Pidge outside.

“Finally,” she says, crossing her arms and glaring at him. “I thought you were gonna keep me waiting forever. Just like Matt used to-”

She cuts herself off almost immediately, her glare turning into a half-frown. Keith watches as she shifts through a few different expressions--sadness, anger, confusion--before her face settles back into its normal mask. “Ready to go?” she asks, pretending like the whole thing never happened.

“Sure,” Keith says, deciding to humor her. This is the first time he’s heard her say Matt’s name without any prompting since the funeral, and he’s not about to make her feel self-conscious about it.

They head over to Pidge’s house together, the sweltering heat making Keith’s fresh black T-shirt stick to him awkwardly. Pidge opens the door and strides inside, Keith following her closely.

Once again, Lance is waiting on the couch, although the stack of board games hasn’t made a re-appearance as of yet. “Nice to see you both,” he says with a smile that’s mostly directed at Pidge. He catches Keith’s eye for a second, and an expression of worry flashes across his face for the briefest of seconds. Then it’s gone, replaced by his usual cheery aura.

“Good to see you, too,” Pidge says, surprising them both. “You’re not sick anymore, are you?”

“Nah,” Lance assures her. He flashes Keith that same nervous look, mouthing  _ don’t tell her? _ as their eyes meet.  _ Ah, _ Keith thinks, nodding in agreement.  _ I get it. He doesn’t want Pidge to know about what happened last weekend. _

He doesn’t quite understand why Lance wants to keep his bad mood from Pidge, since he hadn’t made much of an effort to hide it from him, but it feels like something he shouldn’t bring up in front of her.

“So, what are we gonna do today?” he asks, changing the subject. “Got any pre-planned bonding activities?”

“I thought you guys could decide today,” Lance replies. “Play games? Watch a movie? Go somewhere?”

“It’s too hot to leave the house,” Pidge groans, flopping back on the couch. “Can we just watch TV or something?”

“Yeah, sure,” Lance says, gesturing at the TV. “Show us what kind of stuff you like to watch, Pidge.”

“You don’t have any preferences?”

Lance shrugs, leaning back and crossing his arms behind his head. “Not really. I’ll watch anything if it’s not utter garbage.”

“Define ‘garbage’,” Keith challenges. “I’ve seen Pidge sit through two hours of a Disney Channel movie marathon without complaining.”

“Hey! That doesn’t count as  _ utter _ garbage,” Pidge protests, crossing her arms and glaring at Keith.

“Eh,” Lance says, making a  _ sort-of  _ motion with his hand. “Depends on the movie.”

“Lemonade Mouth?”

“Passable. My brother and I watched it together when it first came out, so I’ve kinda got a soft spot for it.”

“High School Musical?”

“Oh yeah,” Lance says. “The second one’s unquestionably the best.”

“Agreed,” Pidge replies.

“Unbelievable,” Keith groans. “If you two start watching Disney Channel, I’m going back home.”

“Fine, we won’t watch Disney Channel,” Pidge says, grabbing the remote off the coffee table. “What about SVU?”

“Why do you like those crime shows so much?” Keith asks, glancing back at her. “You planning something I should know about?”

“Oh, please. If I were planning a crime, you’d be the first person I’d hire to help me out.”

“She’s got a point there,” Lance agrees, even though Keith’s pretty sure he’s just guessing. He and Lance aren’t exactly close enough for him to recount the story of the time he’d almost gotten himself arrested for eating an apple in public.

“Well, whatever. SVU is fine with me.” Keith settles back against the couch, in between Lance and Pidge’s legs, and watches as Pidge flips to the right channel. The last SVU episode is just ending, so she goes to check the description of the next one. Apparently a girl is being stalked by her ex boyfriend, who’s being stalked by one of their teachers. Also, there’s some sort of dark twist. (There always is.)

“Yeesh,” Lance says, shaking his head at the screen. Keith watches him watch the screen disapprovingly, until suddenly Lance looks down at him and grins. “These plots get more and more insane, don’t they?” he says with a laugh.

“Yeah,” Keith agrees, turning back to the screen. For some reason, he can’t bring himself to focus on the plot of the show, and it has nothing to do with the fact that he’s seen this episode before. He watches the characters flitting across the screen, talking to victims and suspects and bystanders, but he doesn’t really process anything they’re saying or doing. By the time he snaps back to himself, the episode--and his time with Lance--is already halfway over.

Pidge snorts at something happening on screen, and it’s only then that Keith realizes he’s drifted closer to Lance’s side of the couch. Or Lance has drifted closer to the middle. He doesn’t exactly know, and he really doesn’t want to think about it, because it’s kind of embarrassing.

Is that why he can’t pay attention to the episode? Why is it such a big deal for him to be sitting closer to Lance than Pidge? It doesn’t have to be a big deal, right? He knows that logically it doesn’t matter, but for some reason his brain is refusing to focus on anything else.

Is it-

Is it possible that he  _ likes _ Lance? That he has a  _ crush  _ on him? He almost physically jumps at the thought, only barely managing to stay still. No, he couldn’t like Lance like that. Sure, it would explain that tight feeling in his stomach whenever he sees Lance and Allura together, and his willingness to help Lance out at the drop of a hat. And of course he likes spending time with Lance, despite the fact that they only see each other once or twice a week. Sure, he thinks of Lance as funny and smart and kind and cute, but that doesn’t mean he  _ likes _ him.

Shit. He totally likes him.

_ How? _ is the first thing his mind jumps to, followed by  _ For how long? _ Shiro would probably tell him that patience yields focus and to think it through rationally, but he honestly doesn’t know the answer to either of his questions. He’s only seen Lance a handful of times since the first time they’d met, so it’s not like this whole crush thing could have been going on for  _ too _ long. But at the same time, he remembers himself getting sucked into conversations with Lance during their first meeting, totally forgetting that he was supposed to be distracting him. So even if he hadn’t had a real crush on Lance since the beginning, he’d definitely been at least a  _ little _ bit attracted to him.

_ This really isn’t good, _ Keith thinks, gritting his teeth.  _ Lance already has a girlfriend, and they seem pretty happy together. Plus, the only reason he spends more than a few minutes with me is because of Pidge, and he’s getting  _ paid _ for it. And developing feelings for him is just gonna make weekends more complicated. _

He wishes his emotions had on and off switches, so he could get rid of this stupid crush before it causes any trouble. Unfortunately, he has practically no control of his emotions, so it looks like he’ll have to find some other way of dealing with it. Like ignoring it to his best ability. Yeah, ignoring it sounds good.

Fuck, has he moved even  _ closer _ to Lance since he started thinking?

Keith bites his lip, unsure of what to do. About the couch, the crush, the entire situation. He feels frozen in place, paralyzed with confusion and nerves. He manages to glance at the clock and sees that only a few minutes have passed since his epiphany. There’s still just over twenty minutes left.

He focuses on the TV, trying to pick up on what’s happened so far. Olivia is talking to one of the suspects, while a few other detectives talk behind the one-way mirror. He’s just gotta relax, stop thinking about Lance and start being present for Pidge. He can totally do that.

He leans back, intent on at least  _ looking _ relaxed, even if he feels exactly the opposite. A minute passes quickly, and then another, and he’s just starting to wind down when he feels a hand slip through the hair at the back of his head. He freezes, wondering if it’s just his imagination, when the hand brushes through again. Short, round nails gently scrape against his scalp, and he shivers involuntarily, breaking himself out of his trance.

He casts a sidelong glance at Pidge, whose hands are wrapped around her knees as she watches the episode unfold. Not only is the hand not hers, she has no idea what’s happening on the other side of the couch. Which means it really is Lance playing with his hair like it’s the most casual, normal thing in the world.

Lance’s hand brushes down against his neck, combing out the tangles near the base of his scalp. Keith shivers again, not daring to turn around and ask why he’s doing this. He knows he should tell Lance to stop, seeing as he’s trying to ignore his newly recognized crush and Lance playing with his hair isn’t exactly helpful, but he can’t bring himself to. Lance’s fingers gently pulling at his hair and running over his head feels too nice, and he’s too weak to let go of that feeling.

Luckily and unluckily, Lance doesn’t pull away. He keeps combing idly through Keith’s mullet, occasionally working through a tangled knot or pausing to smooth out a stray piece of hair. Once again, Keith finds himself unable to pay attention to the episode, using all of his energy to stay still and not be weird about this very weird moment. Maybe Lance does this to all of his friends and his girlfriend. After all, Allura  _ does _ have great hair. He wouldn’t be surprised if Lance is just acting on instinct.

He shoots another glance at Pidge, who’s still absorbed in the show he hasn’t been paying attention to. He’s not sure if he’s glad or not. After all, Pidge would probably say something if she looked over and saw the two of them like this, which would make Lance stop. But if he’s being honest, Keith’s having more and more trouble convincing himself that he wants Lance to stop. Maybe he can just let himself relax and enjoy this--one last act of pining (as Shiro would say) before he goes cold turkey.

Despite his better judgement, he can already feel himself unwinding. He sinks further back into the couch as Lance’s fingers runs through his hair repetitively, having already combed the knots and tangles out. (And really, he thinks, how did it get so tangly? Hadn’t he just brushed it before he’d come over?)

Before he knows it, the episode is over. Pidge sits up, stretches, and glances over at the two of them just as Lance pulls his hand back to stretch as well. She casts a questioning glance at Keith, who tries to play it off as nothing and probably ends up looking like a criminal that’s just been caught red-handed. She rolls her eyes at him and turns to Lance.

“What did you think of the end?” she asks, raising an eyebrow as if she’s challenging him.

“It was really unsatisfying,” Lance replies. Huh. So he had been paying attention to the show all along.

“Exactly!” Pidge exclaims. “Keith thinks the episodes with the bad endings are the best ones.”

“They’re realistic,” Keith says simply, shrugging at her (and also attempting to get the feeling of Lance’s hands out of his mind.) “The bad guy doesn’t always get caught.”

“Jeez, that’s what Mattie used to say,” Pidge sighs, shaking her head in mock disappointment. Keith stares at her, wondering if she’ll try to play it off like she had the time before. Lance stays silent as well, waiting.  _ He’s probably wondering if he can get her to talk more about Matt, _ Keith thinks, glancing up. But Lance doesn’t look like he’s about to jump into counselor mode. In fact, he looks almost… sad?

“Whatever,” Pidge says, turning away slightly. “He was wrong, and you’re wrong. Those episodes aren’t good, they’re just annoying.”

“She’s right,” Lance agrees with a smirk, turning his attention on Keith. “You’ve got bad taste in TV, dude.”

“ _ I _ have bad taste?” Keith exclaims. “At least I don’t watch Disney Channel movies, like  _ someone _ I know.”

Lance grins at him, and Keith grins back, and then suddenly he remembers the whole avoid-your-feelings plan he’d come up with right before Lance started playing with his hair. His smile drops immediately, and he turns away, pretending to fix his shoelaces. Lance is quiet for a few seconds, before he stands and stretches again.

“Well, I’d better get going soon,” he says, sounding almost apologetic. “I’ll plan something fun for us next week. Hopefully it’s not as hot outside and we can go to the park or something.”

“If you don’t get us lost on the way there,” Pidge teases.

“Hey, I’m not that hopeless!” Lance protests, feigning offense. “Right, Keith? Come on, back me up.”

“I’d… better get going, too,” Keith says, standing abruptly. He can’t let Lance distract him again, not now that he knows he’s got this stupid crush. If he stays longer, he’s going to get sucked back in by Lance’s charm and charisma.

“Running out on us?” Pidge asks, raising an eyebrow at him. “I didn’t peg you for a promise breaker, Keith.”

“The session’s over, anyway,” Keith says. “Sorry, Pidge. I’m really busy today. I’ll text you later, alright?”

“Alright, I guess,” Pidge complies hesitantly. “Good luck with your stuff.”

“Thanks.” Keith opens the door and steps outside, the heat hitting him immediately. He sighs deeply, turning towards his own house. He needs to get his emotions back under control and sort himself out before he can face Lance again.

He needs to talk to Shiro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like things are back to normal! Thank you for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

“So, hypothetically, if someone were to start feeling a certain way towards someone they know is already in a relationship, and they’ve tried to ignore it but it won’t go away and it’s making things really hard for them, how should they handle that?” Keith asks. They’re sitting at the kitchen counter, cups of coffee in hand even though all traces of sleepiness have abandoned Keith since the whole couch incident.

Shiro doesn’t even bat an eye at the question. “They should probably be honest about their feelings,” he says, taking a sip from his Fluttershy mug. (A collector’s edition from two years ago.)

“Even if that person has an awesome girlfriend?” Keith presses, raising an eyebrow. “A hypothetical girlfriend, I mean.”

“ _Especially_ if that person has a girlfriend,” Shiro replies. “If the feelings aren’t going away, it’s best to lay it all out before someone gets hurt. Worst case scenario, they stop seeing their crush for a little while until they get over it.”

“But I-” Keith starts, catching himself before he reveals anything more. “I mean, they might not have the option of not seeing their crush, you know? Maybe they’ve got classes, or mandatory meetings, or they just happen to bump into each other on campus a lot…”

“Keith, who are you talking about?” Shiro half-asks, half-sighs.

“What? No one! I said this whole scenario was hypothetical, didn’t I?”

“You’re a terrible liar,” Shiro deadpans, fixing him with a stare that would freeze anyone who hasn’t lived with him for so long. “Tell me what’s up before you do something you’ll regret.”

Reluctantly, Keith explains the situation, leaving out some of the more embarrassing parts to spare Shiro the pain and working his way around Lance’s bad day as if it were from stress instead of whatever was actually going on. As usual, Shiro doesn’t react negatively while Keith’s talking, choosing instead to let him finish the story before he passes judgement.

“You’re being ridiculous,” is the first thing he says once Keith’s finished talking.

“You don’t understand,” Keith groans, laying his head on the cool counter. “I can’t have a crush on Lance. He’s already dating Allura, and he only ever hangs out with me when we’re with Pidge, so it’s not like he has a choice.”

“You guys seemed pretty friendly with each other,” Shiro points out, taking another sip from his mug.

“It’s just from proximity,” Keith sighs, looking up from his place on the counter. “He’s a friendly person, too.”

“You two were pretty deep in conversation.”

“Yeah, well…” Keith sighs, turning his head away. He doesn’t want to explain that Lance was thanking him for helping him out, and that he disappeared for hours last weekend because Lance fell asleep on him and he couldn’t bring himself to move. “I guess it might have looked that way,” he says at last.

“You really are making a big deal out of this,” Shiro replies. “I’m sure everything will work out. Just try not to think about him like that.”

“I _do_ try,” Keith grumbles. “But it’s hard.”

“How so?”

“He’s like… always being flirty.” Keith turns again so his forehead is directly pressed against the counter. “I’m sure it doesn’t mean anything, but it doesn’t exactly help.”

Shiro frowns, leaning back a little bit. “Like playful?” he asks.

“I don’t know… He said he’d remember a face like mine the first day we met each other,” Keith explains. “It sounded kinda flirty when he said it. And he asked for my number because of his horoscope or something, and when I looked it up it talked about potential love interests. Plus he did that whole hair-couch-thing earlier.”

“That _is_ a little bit flirtatious,” Shiro agrees thoughtfully. “Has he done it with anyone else? Hunk, maybe?”

“I haven’t seen them together a lot, but no,” Keith admits, raising his head from the counter. “At least, I don’t think so.”

“Then I don’t know what to tell you, Keith,” Shiro says with a shrug. “Either ignore him or tell him the truth. There aren’t a lot of other options.”

“I guess…” Keith agrees hesitantly. He knows Shiro’s right, but somehow both options seem close to impossible for him. Telling Lance the truth would make everything awkward between them, but keeping his feelings a secret seems difficult considering the unreasonable amount they run into each other, not to mention their once-a-week meeting with Pidge.

“I know you’ll be able to figure it out,” Shiro says. “You’re smart, and you do the right thing most of the time.”

“Thanks,” Keith sighs, rolling his eyes. He wishes Shiro could magically fix all of his problems, but he knows he needs to figure this one out on his own.

* * *

“Hey, fancy seeing you here,” a familiar voice says. Keith glances up from the textbook he’d been skimming and sees Lance standing above him, Hunk by his side. He swallows nervously, slipping a sheet of scratch paper between the pages of his book and closing it.

“Hey, Lance,” he says, then clears his throat. “How’s it going?”

Lance makes a so-so motion with his hand. “Eh. I’ve got an exam in a few minutes, but at least it’s my last class of the day. What about you?”

“Uh, I’m doing alright,” Keith says vaguely. “Just waiting for classes to start. Which building are you guys headed to?”

“East,” Lance says. “Well, I am. Hunk’s going back to his dorm after he drops me off.”

“Do you usually walk to class together?” Keith asks, remembering what Shiro said about Lance flirting with Hunk.

“Not usually,” Hunk answers with a shrug. “We’ve got totally different classes, so we’re usually heading in different directions. And Lance and I both hate being late, so there’s not a lot of time for us to walk each other.”

“Which building is your next class in?” Lance asks. “Maybe we’re headed in the same direction.”

“Uh, the north wing,” Keith answers. “Actually, I should probably get going soon.”

The north and east buildings are adjacent to each other, but since they’re both so big it’s not exactly on Lance’s path, so he figures he’s safe.

Lance seems to think differently. “I was just on my way to class,” he says, “but I could walk you to the north building if you’re heading over.”

Keith bites his lip nervously. “You really don’t have to… I mean, if you don’t like being late to class…”

“There’s plenty of time before class starts,” Lance disagrees. “And besides, it’s not like we’re on different sides of campus, right?”

“I guess so,” Keith says, trying not to sound as reluctant as he feels. Lance is just trying to be friendly, and he doesn’t want to seem rude, but he’s seriously doubting his ability to keep it together for much longer. Soon enough he’s gonna start thinking about Lance offering to walk him to class even though he doesn’t do that for the rest of his friends, and how he might not even do that for Allura despite the fact that they’re dating, and-

“Great! We can go over now if you’re ready,” Lance offers, holding out his hand to help Keith up. Keith takes it and tries not to wonder if Lance’s touch lingered for longer than normal or not.

“You guys have fun,” Hunk says with a wink. “It was nice to see you again, Keith!”

Keith doesn’t even have a chance to respond before he’s turning away and striding off towards the dorm buildings.

“So, where’s Allura?” Keith asks, despite his common sense telling him not to.

“I think she’s grabbing lunch with Lotor,” Lance says vaguely, not seeming particularly bothered by it. “I saw her earlier in the morning, though.”

“Oh.” Keith doesn’t know how to respond. Lance doesn’t seem to mind his girlfriend going to lunch with another guy, which proves that he really is a good guy in Keith’s book, but he doesn’t seem very into the conversation either. It’s almost like it doesn’t particularly matter to him.

“So, do you have any big plans this weekend?” Lance asks. “Aside from hanging out with me, of course.”

“Not really,” Keith admits. “I’ve just got homework.”

“Ah, same here. Although I kinda wanted to knock it out of the way on Friday and do something fun later on.”

“That sounds… nice,” Keith says hesitantly. He’s not sure what ‘fun’ constitutes for Lance, but he doesn’t particularly feel like asking, either. After all, it’s not really his business.

“Hunk wants me to go with him to volunteer at a soup kitchen, but the last time I helped him with that I gave myself a second-degree burn, so I think I’ll pass on that one,” Lance continues. “Maybe if you’ve got some spare time, we could do something together.”

“Um… Maybe another time,” Keith deflects awkwardly. “I mean, I’ve got a lot to get done, and I have work on Sunday, so…”

“Don’t worry about it, then,” Lance says, waving him off. “The college life can be stressful, huh?”

“Yeah,” Keith agrees, although he can’t help but feel a little sad. Hanging out with Lance outside of their sessions with Pidge sounds amazing, and he really doesn’t have anything to do this weekend, but he can’t take advantage of Lance’s generosity like that. Lance already has a girlfriend, so surely he’d just been looking for some friendly company, and Keith can’t really call his company _friendly_ right now.

He closes his eyes for a second, sighing internally. It might be the best choice for both of them, but he’d really wanted to spend more time with Lance.

As if reading his mind, Lance nudges him in the side playfully. “Hey, don’t feel bad,” he says cheerfully. “Maybe we can do something some other time.”

“Sure,” Keith agrees, although he knows he can’t. With the way things are going, he really doubts that he’ll be over his crush anytime soon.

“Awesome!” Lance grins. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Luckily, they reach the north building before he can respond. “I’d better get going,” he says hurriedly, gesturing vaguely towards the door and trying not to seem like he’s running away.

“Of course,” Lance replies, smiling at him. “Good luck in class, Keith. I’ll see you later, yeah?”

“Yeah, see you this weekend,” Keith says. his heart pounding. He knows he should fight it, but he can’t help the small smile that breaks across his face as Lance walks away. He wonders what he meant by _looking forward to it_ , then catches himself. He’s not supposed to be thinking about Lance like that, and here he is, standing stupidly in front of his class building and staring after him like an idiot.

He sighs, wipes the smile off his face, and heads into the north building.

* * *

“I have a plan,” Colleen tells him, her eyes bright. Keith raises an eyebrow questioningly, wondering why she’s telling him, of all people.

“A plan?” he repeats, confused.

“I want to do a ceremony for Matt,” she continues. “Something to celebrate his life and get closure for Pidge.”

“Like a funeral?” Keith asks. “Didn’t you guys already have a funeral?”

“We did,” Colleen confirms. “But Pidge wasn’t herself back then. I want to do this for her.”

“You think she’ll go for it?”

“I don’t know. She’s been so much brighter lately. I even heard from Lance that she mentioned Matt a few times over the last few sessions.”

“It does feel like she’s getting better,” Keith admits, although he’s not sure if she’s ready for a do-over of her brother’s funeral. He’s not sure if anyone would be willing to do that.

“The ceremony wouldn’t be anything big,” Colleen assures him. “Just between family and friends. I assume she’d want you there, but we’d have to ask her.”

Keith nods, unsure of what to say. He still wants to protect Pidge, but at this point he can’t tell if he’s helping her heal or supporting her in avoiding her problems. After all, Colleen had been mostly right about Lance, hadn’t she? After all of their sessions together, Pidge is finally starting to open up and act more like herself.

But they’re not a hundred percent sure that it’s Lance who’s helping her. Maybe she’s just healing with time, and Colleen is wasting her money on hiring someone to come play video games with her daughter every weekend. The only person who really knows is Pidge, and he doubts she’d be ready to talk about her healing process with her family.

“I think I’ll tell her about it later this week,” Colleen decides. “She can help me plan it if she wants to. Maybe we can have it around his birthday.”

“His birthday’s in like, a month, isn’t it?” Keith points out. “Isn’t that kind of soon?”

“Frankly, I probably should have thought of it earlier,” Colleen says. “It’s been three and a half months, Keith.”

“You don’t want to wait another two months?” Keith suggests. “Give her half a year before she has to relive all… that.”

“I think it would be better to do it next month,” Colleen repeats. “Ignoring Pidge’s problem isn’t going to solve it. Now that she’s started to open up, we need to take the next step.”

Keith grits his teeth, his mind filling with different ways the ceremony could go wrong. He doesn’t voice his thoughts though, knowing there’s no way to change her mind.

“Keith, I know you’re trying to look out for Pidge,” Colleen continues. “But you have to understand, what she’s doing isn’t healthy. Lance has been great, but she needs another push to open up.”

“I guess you’d know best,” Keith admits. After all, Colleen lost a son at the same time Pidge lost a brother. Keith hadn’t been that close to Matt, all things considered, so he wouldn’t know how to deal with the grief they’re feeling.

“Would you do me a favor and not mention this to her, Keith?” Colleen asks, touching his arm in that weird way mothers tend to do. “I want to wait for the right moment to tell her.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Mom, you didn’t tell me Keith was here!” Pidge complains, walking into the kitchen. “We were supposed to play Legendary Defenders, not stand around _talking_.”

“I just wanted to catch up with him for a minute,” Colleen explains. “He’s all yours now.”

“Great.” Pidge grabs Keith’s arm and starts dragging him away from the kitchen towards her room. “Lance said we’re gonna play this weekend, so we’ve gotta train.”

“I don’t think we can call playing video games _training_ ,” Keith says. “More like practicing.”

“Those are synonyms.”

“No, they’re not.”

“Sure they are. In the right situation, at least.”

Keith rolls his eyes. It’s clear Pidge won’t let this go, so he decides to drop it for both of their sakes. Pidge is notoriously stubborn at the best of times.

They settle down in Pidge’s room, and she automatically hands him a game controller. The Legendary Defenders menu is already up on the TV with PVP mode on, and Pidge has selected the Green Paladin.

“Red, I assume?” she asks as he switches through the characters.

“Yeah,” Keith says, quickly switching from the Blue Paladin to the Red Paladin. “As usual.”

“Great,” Pidge says again, selecting a few things from the menu screen and starting a game. “Ugh, I’m so glad we don’t have to do a three-way split-screen now.”

“Me too,” Keith agrees, although he kind of misses Lance’s competitive trash talk. Three-way split-screens aren’t so bad when you’re playing with friends, right?

Pidge’s character knocks his to the ground and starts choking him with vines. Keith smashes buttons on his controller desperately, but the vines constrict him further.

“No mercy!” Pidge cackles as his character passes out. “We should’ve done story mode instead. At least that would be a challenge.”

“Shut up,” Keith grumbles, hitting the respawn button. “I’m a college student. I don’t have time to sit around and play video games all day.”

“Hey, I’ve got stuff to do, too!” Pidge protests, grabbing him with another vine. This time he’s quick enough to burn it to ashes with his fire powers before it can choke him. He powers up a fireball and launches it at her character.

“You mean stuff like _practice_?” Keith teases, raising an eyebrow.

“Screw you! It’s called training ‘cause it’s serious,” she argues. “Just like I’m about to seriously destroy you!”

She throws a vine whip at his character, wrapping it around his leg and pulling it until he trips and falls over. Keith sends another fireball at her, but she dodges it easily.

“Distracted, aren’t we?”

“Shut up.”

They play another round, Keith managing to beat Pidge by a hair, and then she switches them to story mode after all. “So,” Keith says conversationally, running after Pidge’s character. “How’s the stuff with Lance going?”

“Lance? Fine, I guess,” Pidge replies. “I mean, I didn’t think he was that cool at first, but he’s pretty fun.”

“That’s good.” Keith presses a few buttons on his controller absentmindedly. “What about the stuff with Matt?”

On the screen, Pidge’s character stops moving. “What?” she asks quietly.

“You’ve just mentioned his name a few times over the last couple of weeks,” Keith explains quickly. “I thought maybe you’d be ready to… you know, open up more. About him.”

“I…” Pidge seems at a loss for a few seconds. Keith glances over at her just in time to see her expression turn dark. “There were rules, Keith,” she says. “Remember? We don’t talk about my brother.”

“Right,” Keith says, snapping his attention back to the screen. “Sorry.”

“Forget it,” Pidge replies curtly, going back to the game.

 _Colleen was wrong,_ he thinks to himself. _She really isn’t ready to talk. Lance may have helped her get past saying his name, but really talking about him after he died is a totally different story._

Pidge sighs, using her weapon to cut through two enemies at the same time. Keith raises an eyebrow, then turns to look at her.

“Are you mad at me?” he asks quietly.

“No,” Pidge snaps, then hits him with a vine. They’re not playing PvP anymore, but Keith doesn’t point that out. He probably deserves it.

* * *

He’s watching Shiro put the finishing touches on their microwave top ramen when his phone vibrates in his pocket. Shiro raises an eyebrow, but Keith ignores him in favor of the new text from Lance. He and Lance haven’t texted each other very much since he’d gone over to Lance’s dorm last time, so it’s strange to hear from him over text now.

Lance’s message reads _hey_ , which Keith doesn’t really get. He responds _hi_ , unsure of what else to say. Another text comes in less than a minute later. Lance’s next message says, _what’s up?_ which is just as helpful as the last one.

 _Eating ramen,_ Keith responds. _What’s up with you?_

_Just thinking about my horoscope ;)_

_Oh?_ Keith writes. _What was it?_

Lance doesn’t reply for a minute or two, and when he does it’s in a long paragraph of text. _Ideas for an event of some sort could have you spending a lot of time on the phone today. You’ll need to consult with people who share your interests and begin planning right away. Some of what you hear might confuse you, but don’t be afraid to ask for an explanation. Go for it!_

 _Has it come true yet? Spending a lot of time on the phone today?_ Keith asks, then skims over the words again.

Lance responds, _I thought I could take care of that now._

_I don’t know if that’s how horoscopes work._

_I don’t know if horoscopes have a certain way to work. I think they just do what they do how they do it._

Keith grins, shaking his head. _You’d know best,_ he types.

 _Hey, what’s your horoscope today? I always forget to ask you,_ Lance writes. Keith rolls his eyes and opens his search engine, then types in _scorpio horoscope_. Once again he clicks on the first result and copies the paragraph before he’s even finished reading it. He pastes it into a text and sends it to Lance without a second thought.

_Today’s astral alignment might cause you to make some quick decisions as far as your love life is concerned. You should be able to avoid this if you are careful, Scorpio. If you really do have something to say, then you may consider sharing your feelings, but it would be wise not to go over the top with this._

_Wow,_ Lance responds. _That’s pretty intense._

 _Yeah,_ Keith agrees.

_Hey, it was fun seeing you at Iverson the other day!_

_Yeah, it was._

_I was serious about us making plans later,_ Lance writes. _If you want to, that is._

Keith stares at the text, frowning. Lance’s suggestions sounds an awful lot like a date, although that could just be wishful thinking. And it’s not like he doesn’t _want_ to accept, but Lance has a girlfriend. Allura is kind and charming and he doesn’t want to come between them by interpreting something wrong because of a stupid crush.

 _I don’t know,_ he replies. _Maybe…_

_There’s no pressure, but it could be fun!_

_What would we even do?_

_Whatever we want to! That’s the fun of it : )_

_Who else would be there?_ Keith asks, frowning.

_Just the two of us, unless you want to invite someone else._

Keith’s frown deepens. _Wouldn’t Allura mind?_ he types, biting his lip.

_What? Why would she?_

_Because she’s your girlfriend?_

There’s a long pause in the conversation, and suddenly Keith worries that he’s misread the situation. He pulls out his phone and types, _oh god, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply it was a date. It just sounded like you meant-_

Before he can even send the third text, Lance sends one of his own. _You thought Allura and I were dating?!_

 _Yeah?_ Keith replies. _Aren’t you?_

 _No! She’s dating my roommate, Lotor,_ Lance explains. _I used to have a little crush on her back in high school, but I got over it a long time ago._

 _Oh,_ Keith types. _Sorry for assuming. You guys just seemed really close._

 _We’ve been friends for a long time,_ Lance responds, _but we’re not together. I’ve been single since before I met you._

_Really?_

_Uh, yeah? Why do you think I’ve been flirting with you so much?_

_What? You’ve been flirting with me?_

_YES! Like every chance I got!_

Keith blinks at his phone a few times unbelievingly, warmth spreading through him. Lance really has been flirting with him the whole time? He hasn’t been imagining it?

 _I thought it was just wishful thinking,_ he replies.

_You’re so oblivious. I was laying it on thick, too._

_But why?_ Keith asks hesitantly. He’s afraid of assuming again, but it sort of sounds like Lance _likes_ him. Surely it couldn’t be that though, right?

_Why? Why do people normally flirt?_

_I don’t know, for fun?_

_Because they want to get to know each other better, genius. Because you’re really cool and smart and funny and I wanna go out with you._

_You want to go out with me?_ Keith asks incredulously. Sure, he’s been subconsciously fantasizing about something like this happening ever since he’d gone to Lance’s dorm, but now that it’s actually happening he has no idea what to say.

Luckily, Lance seems to understand that he’s temporarily broken Keith, and continues with the conversation anyway. _Yeah, I do,_ he says. _So, do you want to do something together later this week? I’ve still got my big enterprise to plan, after all._

Keith smiles so wide his cheeks hurt, covering it with his hand so Shiro doesn’t see. _I’d love to,_ he types, biting his lip again.

_Awesome! What days work for you?_

_I’ve got classes most days, but I think Wednesday? If that works for you._

_Wednesday is good!_ Keith can practically hear the exclamation in Lance’s voice. _Did you have anything in mind to do?_

 _Not really,_ Keith admits. _Did you?_

_Kind of. It can be a surprise! I’ll plan a great day for the two of us._

_Sounds great._ Keith grins even wider, ignoring Shiro’s pointed throat clearing.

_It’s a date!_

Keith switches off his phone and sets it on the counter, then buries his face in his hands. He has a date with Lance. Lance, who’s single, and who’s been flirting with him for months. Lance, who thinks he’s funny and smart.

_He has a date with Lance._

Shiro reaches over the counter and taps him on the shoulder. “You okay over there?”

“Fine,” Keith mumbles, waving him off. He can feel the blush on his face and covers it again so his friend can’t see.

“If you say so,” Shiro says teasingly, then reaches for his phone. “Hey, it looks like you’ve got a new text…”

“Shiro!” Keith cries, launching across the counter to reclaim his phone. Shiro tips his head back and laughs.

“I’m guessing this has something to do with Lance?”

“...Maybe,” Keith admits. Shiro shakes his head fondly.

“I told you you’d get everything figured out,” he says, setting his ramen bowl down in the sink. “So, what happened?”

“He said he’s single,” Keith explains. “And he’s been flirting with me the whole time. I guess he and Allura are just good friends.”

“That’s exciting.” Shiro turns the sink on and goes about washing the dirty dishes that have piled up over the last couple of days. “So, did he make a move?”

“I think so,” Keith says slowly. “He called it a date…”

“Congratulations, Keith. I’m happy for you.”

“You sound like a dad,” Keith says, reaching over the counter to push Shiro. “Don’t get all mushy just because I handled my emotions like an adult.”

“I don’t know if it was _adult-like,_ ” Shiro teases. “But you did good. Now, are you gonna help me with these dishes or not?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Date time! Date time! Things are going good!  
> Thanks for reading : D


	7. Chapter 7

Lance refuses to give Keith any hints as to what their so-called date is going to be like, even going so far as to make him promise not to ask about it. Keith rolls his eyes and reluctantly agrees, but he’s secretly excited. And nervous. He hasn’t been on a date in a while, and a first date means there’s even more pressure on him. And what if it doesn’t go well? What if Lance decides he doesn’t like him after all, and the rest of their time with Pidge is awkward and painful?

At least he won’t have to worry about that once Colleen implements her plan. She’s been telling Keith about new ideas she’s had for Matt’s ceremony over the last few days, including letting Pidge decide whether she wants to continue with the Big Brother program or not. Keith’s not sure if she’d be into continuing with it in the first place, but if he has a bad day with Lance she’ll be sure to stop their sessions as soon as she can. They’ve always tended to look out for each other like that, even when Matt was alive.

Lance texts him on Wednesday morning, telling him to wear something light and bring a sweater. Keith raids his closet, unsure of what “light” means, and eventually comes up with one of his newer T-shirts and a nice pair of black jeans. He grabs a red hoodie off of the back of his desk chair and shoves his feet into a pair of boots, then checks the time. He’s running early, so he goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face, and then runs a comb through his hair for good measure. Lance doesn’t normally seem to mind when he has bedhead during Pidge’s sessions, but this is different. This is their first date, and he wants to look nice.

“You almost ready?” Shiro asks, poking his head into Keith’s room. “You said you were leaving around one, right? Isn’t he gonna be here soon?”

“I’m ready,” Keith says, pulling his hoodie on.

“Good. I hope everything goes well.”

Shiro disappears, leaving Keith to finish tying his shoes and check his phone again. Lance hasn’t texted since he’d told Keith he was on his way earlier, but it’s been half an hour, and the next bus is scheduled to pull up at any moment. Sure enough, somebody knocks on the door within the next few minutes. Keith jumps off of his bed and scrambles towards the door before Shiro can open it and make some embarrassing dad remark.

Lance is standing outside, hands shoved into the pockets of his navy blue bomber jacket. “Hey,” he says with a lopsided grin. “You ready?”

“Yeah,” Keith replies breathlessly. “Are we taking the bus?”

“I thought we could head towards campus and grab a late lunch first. Have you eaten already?”

Keith shakes his head. He’d debated eating something before their date, but he’d been too nervous to actually do it. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going after?” he asks as Lance steps back to let him through the door.

“Nope! It’s still a surprise,” Lance replies gleefully. “I’m sure you’ll like it, though. Like, ninety-eight percent sure, at least.”

“Well, that’s good enough for me,” Keith says with a gentle smile as the two of them fall into step. “Although I have to tell you, ninety-nine is my lucky number.”

“Aw, really?”

“No. It’s seven.”

“Weirdo,” Lance says with a laugh, nudging him with his elbow. Keith smiles again as they head towards the bus station together, his nervous energy draining away until it’s nothing more than a faint, excited buzzing beneath his skin. He has nothing to be worried about.

“What?” he asks. “What’s wrong with seven?”

“Seven is like, the  _ worst _ number. It’s a prime number, it’s odd, and it’s not as satisfying as a three or a five. It’s awful.”

“It’s not that bad!” Keith protests. “What’s yours?”

“Twelve. It’s all round and nice and you can divide it by so many things. Two, three, four, six…”

“I don’t know,” Keith says, frowning playfully. “Twelve really isn’t that special.”

“Hey! You take that back right now, mister,” Lance retorts. “Twelve happens to be a very popular number.”

Keith smiles again, taking a seat next to Lance on the bus stop bench. “Well, I guess it’s alright.”

“You’re forgiven,” Lance relents. “So, where should we eat? There’s pizza, Chinese food, that bakery right outside the west wing… We can get whatever you want.”

“Oh. Um…” Keith hesitates for a second, remembering again that they’re on a date and not just hanging out with Pidge or walking around campus together. “Pizza, I guess? Is that okay with you?”

“Pizza sounds great,” Lance agrees, moving closer on the bench. “Unless you’re one of those weirdos who likes sardines on pizza.”

“God, no,” Keith laughs, relaxing in Lance’s presence again. He doesn’t have to be on guard all the time now that he knows Lance likes him, and there’s nothing big in their way. (Well, except for Pidge. He hasn’t told her about his date with Lance yet, partially to see if there’s even anything to tell, but mostly because he’s trying to give her space after he’d brought up Matt.)

“Good,” Lance says. “My brother used to love sardines on pizza. I thought it was the worst thing in the world, and I’d always try to talk him out of getting them. It was just the two of us and my mom, so we always got one pizza and split the toppings. And then the sardines would get all over the pepperoni, and it was a whole ordeal.”

“Did he ever grow out of it?” Keith asks, curious. He doesn’t know much about Lance’s home life, aside from what it consists of.

“I guess you could say that,” Lance replies. “Don’t get me wrong, I hate sardines, but sometimes I miss arguing over pizza toppings with my family.”

They sit in silence for a couple of seconds. Lance seems lost in thought, and Keith struggles to come up with something to say. “Well, we can order a pizza with Pidge next weekend,” he says at last. “I’m sure we can find a pizza topping to disagree on.”

“That sounds nice,” Lance replies, smiling at him.

“Oh, it won’t be. Pidge is  _ very _ stubborn when it comes to pizza toppings.”

The bus pulls up next to them, and Lance stands and helps Keith to his feet with an over-dramatic bow. “After you,” he says as they step up to the bus, pulling their student ID cards out.

“Gee, thanks,” Keith laughs, shaking his head. Lance nudges him in the side again, and they make their way towards a pair of open seats near the back of the bus.

* * *

“I really miss it there, but we don’t have the money to go back and visit,” Lance says. “We’ve still got family down there, too,”

“I’ve never been outside of the states,” Keith admits, then takes the last bite of his pizza crust. “What was it like back in Cuba?”

“I don’t remember too much,” Lance says. “We lived on a farm, and we used to go to Varadero Beach every summer. My brother and I loved it there.”

“Really?” Keith asks. “I never really liked the beach.”

“How could you not like the beach? It’s  _ the beach _ ,” Lance argues. “Hot sand under your feet, the ocean in front of you, the seashells and driftwood and stuff in the tide… Can you not swim or something?”

“Of course I can swim! I just don’t really have fun there,” Keith explains with a shrug.

“Maybe you just haven’t gone with the right people yet,” Lance says with yet another wink as he wipes his fingers on a paper napkin. “You ready to go?”

“I assume I’m still not allowed to know where it is that we’re headed?”

“Well, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if you  _ did _ know.”

Keith rolls his eyes, but he allows Lance to drag him down to a different bus stop. It’s one he’s only taken a few times to get back and forth from classmates’ houses, and if the empty bus stop is anything to go by, there aren’t a lot of regulars for this line either.

“Can you at least tell me what part of the city we’re going to?” he asks.

“You’ll see when we get there,” Lance replies, annoyingly vague. “And what happened to not asking questions?”

“How do I know you’re not luring me out to a remote forest to kill me with a rusty axe?” Keith counters, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

“Well, if I am, I’m doing a pretty good job,” Lance replies. “You know, with all the  _ luring _ .”

“Shut up,” Keith laughs. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“What, you mean I didn’t entrance you with my beauty and charm?” Lance teases. “I thought that’s why you agreed to go out with me.”

“Obviously I was only in it for the pizza.”

“Oh, obviously.”

The bus pulls up after a few more minutes of small talk, and Keith leads Lance to a couple of unoccupied seats by the backdoors. Lance sits close to him again, so that their legs are pressed against each others’, and Keith finds that he really doesn’t mind the breach of personal space. He’s not usually a touchy person, especially around people he’s not extremely close to, but with Lance it’s different. Sure they haven’t known each other for very long, but they get along like they’ve been best friends for years. And yet, there’s still that element of freshness that keeps Keith on his toes, wondering what will come next for them.

He’s surprised when the bus makes a turn a few stops after the one he’d gotten off at to see his friends, but Lance seems to know exactly where he’s going for once.

“You’re sure we’re going the right way?” he asks anyway, just to be sure.

“Oh yeah. I don’t get lost on busses,” Lance replies. “Looking for bus stops? Sure. Walking around after getting off the bus? Definitely. But I know this route pretty well, so you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“You’re telling me to trust  _ you _ with directions?” Keith asks incredulously.

“Hey, you don’t have to trust me,” Lance points out. “You just have to trust the bus driver.” 

The scenery changes, going from city outskirts to forest road in a matter of minutes. Keith stares out the window, surprised at how pretty it is. He doesn’t get a chance to explore the city much, and since he has no reason to come out here, he’s never really gotten to take it all in before. The trees are thick and green, and every now and again they pass by a small rock wall or a clearing. It reminds him of the postcards Shiro used to send him from the places he’d gone during his gap year, only much more vibrant and real.

Lance signals for the next stop a few minutes later, then pulls Keith to the back door. “I hope you’re okay with a little walk,” he says, waving to the bus driver as they get off.

“You know I was kidding about murdering me in the forest, right?” he jokes, looking around at the densely packed trees surrounding them.

“Ha. Don’t worry, I don’t murder on the first date,” Lance assures him. “Give it a few weeks, at least.”

The two of them follow a small trail along the side of the road for a few dozen feet, until Lance makes a sudden turn into the forest. Keith raises an eyebrow questioningly, wondering where they could possibly be going. Is Lance taking him hiking? Are they going on a nature walk? Or is there something beyond the forest?

Lance slows down for him so that they’re walking side by side, then bumps their shoulders together. “So, how’s school going? Doing well with that engineering major?”

“I got an eighty-six on my last test in Computer-Electrical,” Keith says with a shrug. “Although the teacher did mark me down a few points for mixing up resistors and transistors.”

“Eighty six is pretty impressive,” Lance replies. “Especially in engineering. Hunk tried to explain some of that stuff to me and it went right over my head. You’re pretty smart, you know?”

“Me?”

“Yeah! And Pidge agrees with me, too,” Lance says. “She told me you help her out with her homework all the time, even on top of all your other schoolwork. She’s really lucky to have you.”

“She told you about that?” Keith asks, confused. He hadn’t realized that Pidge talks about him while he’s not around, let alone with praise.

“Yeah, man. She’s always saying good things about you when you’re out of the room,” Lance continues. “From what I’ve heard, you’ve been like a brother to her over the last few years.”

Keith smiles to himself. “I didn’t know she felt like that,” he says quietly.

“Like I said, dude. She’s really lucky to have you.” Lance reaches over and takes Keith’s hand, squeezing it gently before letting go. Keith smiles again, looking away to hide his blush.

“So, um… How is school going for you?” he asks, changing the topic. “Have you decided on a major yet?”

“Not at all,” Lance sighs. “I keep circling back to astronomy, but it’s too hard for me. I guess English wouldn’t be so bad. Or maybe education? I’d be a chill teacher.”

“Maybe too chill,” Keith teases. “You do seem to be good with kids, though.”

“Older kids, yeah,” Lance agrees. “I really like younger kids, but I don’t know… I don’t think I’m responsible enough to be in charge of them. If something happened to one of them on my watch, I just… I’d never be able to forgive myself.”

“You’d be a great teacher,” Keith assures him. “But if astronomy is what you want to do, I think you should go for it. It’ll be hard, yeah, but it would make you happy, wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t know,” Lance says dismissively, although he looks like he wants to agree with Keith.

“Come on! You said you were really into space when you were younger, right?”

“Well, yeah, but that was just a stupid high school phase!” Lance protests.

“High school is when I started getting serious about engineering,” Keith continues. “And it’s when Shiro decided to major in humanities.”

“It seems impossible. I’m not smart enough to go into astronomy.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Keith says. “How much do you already know?”

“Well, all the high school basics,” Lance admits. “Types of stars, the life of a star, constellations and planets and black holes. And I taught myself some. But that doesn’t mean I can just jump into that type of major…”

“Iverson has an amazing astronomy program,” Keith says. “Matt Holt was taking classes there before the accident. And Pidge always said he loved it.”

“If Matt Holt was half as smart as Pidge, it makes sense that he’d love it,” Lance points out. “But me? I’m not exactly a genius. I can’t just drop everything to pursue such an unrealistic career.”

“Just because you were younger, doesn’t mean your dreams aren’t worth going after.”

“Maybe,” Lance says doubtfully, then shakes his head. “Well, it doesn’t matter right now. I’ve still got some time to figure it out, right?”

“Right,” Keith agrees. “And if nothing works out, you could always drop out and become a full-time big brother.”

“Ha. I don’t think the program wants some eighty-year-old hanging out with their clients,” Lance says, reaching out to touch one of the low-hanging branches of a tree they pass under. The trail has become narrower, causing the two of them to walk even closer together side by side, and when Keith glances back he can’t see the main road at all. How far are they going?

“It’s just a little bit ahead,” Lance assures him with a knowing look. “I really do think you’ll like it.”

“I’m sure I will.”

They walk in silence for a few minutes more, taking in the forest around them. They pass several shrubs filled with clumps of blue and pink flowers, and Keith even sees a rabbit dart away from them into the bushes. They’re surrounded by the sound of wind in the trees, birds chirping to each other and leaves rustling around them. Keith figures there probably isn’t anyone else anywhere near them, especially not at this time of day.

His thoughts are interrupted by a pair of hands settling over his eyes. “What-” he starts, but Lance cuts him off.

“It’s a surprise,” he giggles excitedly. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you run into anything. We’re almost there, anyway.”

“For someone who gets lost one house away from his destination, you sure seem to know where you’re going,” Keith comments, but complies and closes his eyes.

“I know this path pretty well,” Lance says simply.

“I believe you,” Keith replies, allowing Lance to guide him down the path. He feels the air around them start to move, like they’ve left the tree-lined path for a more open space.

“Just a little bit more…” Lance says, turning Keith to the right. “And… Here!”

He pulls his hands away to reveal a small meadow filled with lush green grass and tiny daisies. There’s an old picnic table standing on the far end of the field next to a wide, gentle creek with an old log laying over it, and a thick patch of what looks to be blackberry brambles close by. The meadow looks completely undisturbed by humankind, save for the picnic table, and Keith suddenly gets the feeling that Lance doesn’t tend to bring a lot of people here.

“Woah,” he breathes, taking it all in. Lance stands beside him proudly, then reaches out to take his hand.

“Here,” he says quietly, as if he’s trying not to disturb the meadow itself. “Let me show you around.”

Keith allows Lance to guide him through the field, taking extra care not to step on the little daisies. This place is clearly special to Lance, and he’d hate to take any part of that away from him. They head towards the creek and the log first, the sound of running water becoming louder as they approach. Lance pauses at the edge of the water and kicks off his shoes, then tosses them to the other side.

“You can go across the log if you don’t want to get wet,” he offers. Keith waves him off and carefully toes off his sneakers and socks, then rolls up the cuffs of his jeans and follows Lance through the creek. It’s shallow enough that the water only reaches right above his ankles, but it feels nice in contrast to the hot weather. The rocks lining the bottom of the creek are smooth and cool and slippery enough to make him grab onto the log for support. Lance, having more experience crossing, waits on the other side to help him with the last few steps.

“Sometimes there are little tadpoles that hang out in there,” he says. “They usually don’t come out when it’s this hot, though.”

“Don’t tadpoles usually live in still water?” Keith asks. He doesn’t really know anything about tadpoles, but he figures it’d be hard for any little creature to survive in a shallow, moving body of water like that.

“There’s a little pool further down there,” Lance replies, gesturing vaguely to the creek. “It’s really nice to go swimming in, if you don’t mind taking the bus back wet. And up here there’s a secret room my brother and I made in the blackberries.”

Keith raises an eyebrow, following Lance to the patch of tall, thick brambles. He leaves his socks off, but slips his shoes back onto his feet as he goes.

“See?” Lance says, gesturing to the thicket. “Secret door.” He knocks a few loose twigs and branches out of the way and ducks through a hollow opening in the blackberry patch, disappearing into the thicket. Hesitantly, Keith steps in after him.

The room is actually pretty cool, if he’s being honest. The walls and ceiling are made of blackberry brambles thick enough to provide a little bit of shade from the sun without totally blocking everything out. It’s surprisingly clean and empty, like somebody had gone in with a pair of clippers and hollowed it out from the inside. There’s a bench pushed to the far side that looks like it once belonged to the picnic table, and a log on the other side to form a sort of stool.

“This is… awesome,” Keith says, turning around slowly to take everything in.

“Right? Here, come look at this,” Lance calls, beckoning him over. He’s standing by the base of an old tree about as tall as he is, the trunk splintered and broken at the top. “A few years ago, there was this big storm, and it brought most of the trunk down over the river. That’s when we started making this place our own.”

“How did you find it?” Keith asks. “Did you guys go hiking a lot?”

“God, no. Hiking is the worst.” Lance cracks a grin. “This is actually pretty close to my mom’s house. One summer we were exploring the neighborhood, and we found the path that leads here, and the rest just kind of happened.”

“Wow.” Keith does another slow circle appreciatively. The amount of care and maintenance that went into the room is clear, and it’s obvious that he still cares about it a lot.

“Yeah. It was pretty lucky,” Lance agrees. “Although it is kind of a weird place for a first date…”

“No,” Keith says, dead serious. “No, I love it. This place is amazing.”

Lance breaks into a grin, which makes Keith smile as well, and then the two of them are just standing there and smiling at each other. “Come on,” Lance says at last. “There’s more to see.”

He shows Keith around the rest of the meadow, pointing out his favorite places and telling Keith stories from the past whenever something sparks his memory. Keith chimes in with a few stories of his own, including his ongoing My Little Pony prank against Shiro, which makes Lance laugh. It’s nice to be able to talk to Lance one on one, even though he feels kind of bad about it. It’s not that he doesn’t like hanging out with Lance in public, or with Pidge, but being alone with him is something else entirely.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Lance says suddenly, after a long pause. “Really.”

Keith smiles and takes his hand once again. “I’m glad I’m here, too,” he replies.

* * *

They’re lying on the ground together, side by side, when Keith realizes how dark it’s gotten. They’d ended up eating lunch twenty minutes past one, and they’d gotten to the meadow sometime around two thirty, which means they’ve been here for three hours at least. A quick glance at his phone confirms his thoughts.

“The stars are gonna come out soon,” Lance comments, as if reading his mind. Keith turns his phone off and settles back down, content to stay a while longer. The bus ride back isn’t terribly long, and Lance doesn’t seem to be in any rush, so he figures he should just enjoy the moment while it lasts.

“Oh yeah?” he replies. “Gonna practice your astronomy skills?”

Lance snorts. “Maybe. Stargazing  _ is _ pretty romantic, after all.”

Keith smiles, hoping his blush isn’t too apparent in the dim light. “I really think you should consider majoring in astronomy. I mean, I know you keep saying it was just a high school fantasy, but you seem like you love it a lot. Why not give it a shot?”

Lance shrugs--Keith can feel the movement beside him. “I don’t know,” he says, sounding like he really doesn’t. “It really is interesting to me, and I would try, but… I guess I just don’t believe I can do it.”

Keith rolls over and props himself up on one elbow. “I do,” he says.

Lance turns, angling his head so Keith can see his raised eyebrow. “Huh?”

“I believe you can do it,” Keith elaborates seriously. “Look at everything you’ve done so far. You’re balancing a big job on top of college, and you found a way to afford living in the dorms by yourself. That’s pretty amazing, if you ask me.”

“It’s hardly the same thing-” Lance protests.

“Well, of course it’s not the same thing,” Keith replies. “I mean, you’re not passionate about dorms and work, are you?”

“I… guess not.”

“See? Who says you couldn’t major in astronomy? Aside from yourself, I mean.”

Lance looks at him with shining eyes. “You really mean all that?” he asks quietly, rolling over until they’re face to face.

“Of course,” Keith says gently. “One hundred percent.”

He’s not sure which one of them makes the first move, but whoever it is, the other follows suit. Suddenly, they’re leaning into each other, closer and closer until Keith can feel Lance’s breath on his face. His eyes flutter closed automatically, and he holds his breath in anticipation.

Lance meets him in the middle, his lips pressing against Keith’s gently but insistently. It’s good--really good, in Keith’s opinion. Better than he’d secretly fantasized it would be. Lance is warm, and soft, and he smells like grass and fresh laundry. Keith wonders how he’s possibly gone this long without kissing him before.

Lance breaks away first, blue eyes opening wide. “Wow,” he half-says, half-sighs, a small smile playing across his lips.

“Yeah,” Keith agrees breathlessly.

“Can I, um…” Lance’s eyes dart down to his lips again, and Keith nods almost too enthusiastically. Lance leans in, and they kiss again, going deeper this time. The grass rustles around them, leaves blowing in the wind, but somehow Keith feels warmer than he has all day. Lance has this way of making people feel like that, he decides.

A few seconds later, he registers music playing near them. It takes him a couple more seconds to realize that the music is his ringtone, and he’s not just imagining it. He pulls away for a second, dismissing the call without even looking at the screen, then comes back to Lance. His hand goes up to cradle Lance’s cheek, and Lance’s arm wraps around his waist gently as he presses a series of short kisses to him.

Barely a minute later, his phone rings again. Keith sighs, annoyed, and shoots Lance an apologetic look as he sits up. “I should probably take this,” he says sheepishly.

“Yeah, go ahead,” Lance agrees, smiling at him. Keith smiles back, unable to help himself, then turns away to answer the call.

“Hello?”

_ “Keith?” _ Shiro’s voice crackles through.  _ “Oh, thank god. Where are you? Is Pidge with you?” _

“What? No, I haven’t heard from her all day.” Keith shoots Lance a nervous glance. “We’re in the forest.”

_ “The forest? Why?” _

“Uh-”

_ “You know what, nevermind. We need you to come home right now.” _ Shiro sounds urgent, panicked.  _ “Hurry, please.” _

“Shiro, is everything okay?” Keith asks, frowning.

_ “No, Keith, it’s not.” _ Shiro takes a deep breath, then sighs shakily.  _ “Pidge ran away.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops ouch where's Pidge?  
> [Art for this chapter by the wonderful Cecile!](https://ceciledraws.tumblr.com/post/178363887502/my-piece-for-the-klancebb2018-i-was-a-dumbass)


	8. Chapter 8

“What?!” Keith exclaims into the phone, eyes going wide. “What do you mean ran away?” Lance sits up beside him, frowning in concern.

_ “I mean she ran away. None of us know where she is, and she hasn’t been home in hours,” _ Shiro says.  _ “We’re sending out search parties now. Just please, hurry back to the Holts’ place.” _

“We’re on our way,” Keith says, already jumping to his feet. Lance stands as well, eyes wide.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

“Pidge ran away,” Keith grits out. “We’ve gotta get to the Holts’ house as soon as possible.”

“Oh my god,” Lance breathes, hands covering his mouth. “Okay, let’s get to the bus station. If we’re lucky, there’ll be another one on its way soon.”

The two of them take off running towards the station, ducking under low branches as they retrace their steps through the forest path. Keith lets Lance lead the way, since he knows the area better, and follows after him as fast as he can.

“It should be this way,” Lance says, glancing over his shoulder as he turns to the right. The sky has gotten even darker, making it harder to see where they’re going. Keith feels his foot catch on an above ground root and falls ungracefully to the forest floor.

“Shit! Keith, are you okay?” Lance turns back to help him up, but Keith is already springing back to his feet.

“I’m fine. Just go!” he exclaims, brushing dirt off his face. Lance takes off again, Keith right on his heels.

“How long has she been missing?” Lance calls over his shoulder as they run.

“I don’t know,” Keith says through grit teeth.

“Why did she run away?”

“I don’t  _ know _ , Lance.”

“Do you know anything else about where she might be?”

“No! Just keep running!” Keith snaps. His stomach twists at the harsh words, but he can’t focus on his date with Lance right now. A teeny-tiny part of him is annoyed that their nice day had been cut short, but a much bigger part of him knows that Pidge is much more important than their date. And yet another part of him is telling him that it’s his fault, that if he was at home instead of out with Lance that Pidge might not have run away.

What if she’s hurt? Or lost? She must be so scared, out in the city on her own with nowhere to go. Keith feels his throat constrict at the thought, and banishes it from his mind.

Speaking of lost, they’ve been running for quite some time now. Longer than he remembers the walk towards the meadow being. He looks around, squinting in the darkness, but the forest looks exactly the same to him here as it had ten minutes ago.

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” he asks, panting. Lance slows to a stop, looking around with a frown.

“I.. think so?” he says, but it comes out as a question. Keith stares at him incredulously.

“You  _ think so _ ?” he repeats. “What happened to knowing this part of the forest?”

“I don’t normally come here when it’s so dark!” Lance stammers. “It all looks the same at night.”

Keith groans, pulling out his phone and opening Google Maps. “We don’t have time to get lost right now. Hold on.”

A few agonizingly slow seconds later, the app loads and he’s able to type in Pidge’s address. The blue line on the map shows them that they’re more than a little off track.

“Fuck!” Keith swears, running his hand through his hair agitatedly. “Fuck… We’re lost. We’ve gotta turn around.”

“Oh, shit,” Lance breathes, frowning. “Keith, I’m sorry. I really thought we were-”

“I know,” Keith says, cutting him off. “Come on, we have to get to the bus station. Let’s go!”

They sprint through the forest blindly, Keith pulling his phone out every few seconds to check the map. Lance’s bad sense of direction has turned them almost ninety degrees away from where they should have been going, effectively costing them ten minutes, but on the bright side, they should still be able to catch their bus if they hurry.

His lungs burn and his legs protest, and the whole time he’s pushing back terrible images of Pidge lost, alone, injured, and afraid. He can’t let anything happen to her tonight, not when he knows he could have done something about it. He could have checked up on her, at least, before heading out with Lance.

“This way!” he yells, quickening his pace. Lance follows close behind, breathing hard from the exercise. Keith can’t afford to offer to stop and take a break for either of their sakes, so he adds, “We’re almost there,” as an afterthought.

They reach the station just as the bus is pulling up. Keith heaves a sigh of relief, wiping sweat from his brow as he and Lance climb aboard. Lance collapses in the closest seat to the front, looking seconds away from passing out. Keith takes a seat next to him and pulls out his phone, sending Pidge a couple of frantic texts before checking for news. Nobody has told him anything, so he texts Shiro to let him know where they are and that Lance might be stopping by to help. He glances over to confirm and finds Lance typing away on his own phone, frowning in concentration.

“I’m asking Hunk and Allura to keep an eye out for her,” he explains without looking up. “I don’t know where they are right now, but it can’t hurt for them to know what she looks like.”

“Thanks,” Keith says, glancing back to his own phone. Shiro hasn’t responded, but Keith is pretty sure he’s still at the Holts’ house. And even if he’s not, somebody will be.

The bus ride back is tense and silent. Lance tries to start a conversation a couple of times, but he gives up quickly once he realizes Keith isn’t really in the mental state for conversations. He keeps checking his phone over and over, even though he hasn’t gotten a single text from Shiro, Pidge, Sam, or Colleen.

They switch busses by Iverson’s campus. Luckily there isn’t much of a wait, but Keith is still debating running all the way back. He paces back and forth, unable to keep himself from worrying.

“We’ll find her,” Lance says, catching his wrist. “We’re gonna find her.”

“I know,” Keith says sharply, trying to convince himself that Lance is right. He’s not sure why he’s so worked up about Pidge running away. After all, it’s not like he hadn’t disappeared for hours on end when he was a kid. And besides, Pidge is smart. She can take care of herself for now, and she knows how to get home if she feels like it. She’s even got a cat eye poker attached to her keychain that Keith had given her a few months ago.

He’s just felt protective over Pidge lately--maybe even before Matt died, if he’s being honest. He wants to keep her safe, emotionally and physically. It’s probably why he’d stepped in during Lance’s first day as her Big Brother, he realizes. And it would also explain why he’d been opposed to Colleen’s idea about Matt’s ceremony. He doesn’t want her to get hurt.

He doesn’t have any siblings, but he wonders if this is what it feels like to be an older brother.

The bus pulls up a couple of minutes later, to Keith’s relief. The two of them hop on and find a couple of seats near the back door. Lance squeezes Keith’s hand and intertwines their fingers, but Keith pulls away a second later to check if he has any new texts. Shiro’s sent him an update:  _ Still no sign of Pidge. I’m at Colleen’s, meet me there. _ He replies,  _ on our way. _

The ride from Iverson to Shiro’s house has never felt so long before. Keith is full of nervous energy, and he only realizes he’s been tapping his foot against the floor when Lance puts a hand on his leg to stop him.

“Deep breaths,” he reminds Keith, who inhales sharply a couple of times before finally getting his breathing under control. Lance’s hand stays on his leg, but it’s entirely different than it had been when they’d been this close before. Back then it had been adventurous and exciting and new. Now it feels like if Lance were to stop touching him, he’d jump off the bus at the next stop and sprint back.

A dozen or so blocks later, Lance signals for the bus to pull over at the next stop. Keith jumps up and is pushing at the back doors before they’ve even stopped moving, barely remembering to thank the bus driver before he’s taking off towards the Holts’ house. The lights in the living room are on, and he can see silhouettes moving around behind the curtains.

Lance follows him up the stairs and just barely avoids being hit in the face with the front door. Keith darts inside, panting as he surveys the area. Sam Holt is speaking with two police officers on the couch, while Shiro and Colleen are on the phone on the other side of the room.

“Okay. Thank you,” Shiro says as Keith approaches. He turns to face him, expression grave.

“Has anyone seen her?” Keith asks, still out of breath. Shiro shakes his head.

“We’re trying all her high school friends, but nobody’s heard anything from her all day,” he explains. “Colleen said she disappeared around three. She’d just brought up her idea for another ceremony for Matt, and Pidge got upset and locked herself in her room. And the next time she checked, it was empty and Pidge wasn’t in the house.”

“And none of the neighbors saw anything?” Keith asks, frowning.

“We don’t know. I was in class, so I didn’t see, and we haven’t gotten out into the city yet. Actually, we were just about to head out to search the area. Colleen and I are starting over by the Garrison, and Sam’s gonna head to the police office. Could you two do circles around the neighborhood and talk to the neighbors in case she stuck close to home?”

“Definitely,” Lance says. “We didn’t see her along the bus line to Iverson, if that helps. And my friends are gonna keep an eye out around Iverson’s campus.”

“Thank you, Lance.” Shiro turns to Keith, setting a hand on his shoulder. “Call me or Colleen if you hear anything, okay? We shouldn’t be too far away.”

“Got it,” Keith says. “We’ll head out now. Keep us updated.”

“We will,” Shiro promises, patting Keith on the back reassuringly. Keith nods, then turns towards the door with Lance in tow.

“So, what’s our strategy?” Lance asks as they step outside. “How do you want to do this?”

“We should split up,” Keith says automatically. “We can cover more ground that way. You take the left side and ask around, and I’ll do the same on the right.”

“You want to split up?” Lance questions hesitantly. “Are you sure?”

“It’s faster, isn’t it?” Keith snaps. “I’d prefer not to prolong this any more than I have to.”

“Yeah, but… You really want to be alone right now? I mean, this stuff is pretty scary, and I don’t know if you should be out here panicking on your own…” Lance trails off unsurely as Keith fixes him with a glare.

“We can meet back up once we’ve covered two blocks,” he says. “You take the left, I’ll take the right.”

Lance looks like he wants to argue, but instead he just nods reluctantly. “I’ll meet you back here soon,” he says, then turns towards the left side of the block. Keith frowns and starts to head the other way, trying to shake the uncomfortable feeling that Lance might be right. He doesn’t really want to do this alone, but he can’t slow down the search for his own selfish reasons any more than he already has. Finding Pidge is top priority right now. Everything else can wait.

_ Lance _ can wait.

Keith looks down the line of houses and sighs, preparing himself for the rest of the night. He glances back in the other direction, watching as Lance makes his way to the door of the first house, then turns around again. He needs to get going if he wants to talk to all the neighbors before they go to sleep and find Pidge as soon as possible.

Determinedly, he takes off towards the closest house.

* * *

An hour later, Keith is frantic.

He’s pacing back and forth outside the Holts’ house, waiting for Lance to finish checking in with the rest of the neighbors. He’s sure he looks like a total mess--he’s been running his hands through his hair and chewing at his lips restlessly as the night’s progressed on. The neighbors on his side hadn’t seen anything regarding Pidge, and Lance hasn’t messaged him about anything from his side, either, which means they’re no closer to knowing where she’s run off to.

He’s tried calling her in-between houses, too, but she still refuses to pick up her phone or answer texts. She must be really upset about the ceremony to have taken it to such drastic measures. That feeling of guilt from earlier resurfaces at the thought that he might have been able to stop her if he’d been at home instead of out with Lance.

_ You couldn’t have known, _ he tells himself, shaking his head.  _ It’s not your fault. _

The sound of footsteps approaching draws him away from his thoughts and back to reality. He looks up and sees Lance walking towards him from the left side of Pidge’s house, shaking his head.

“No luck,” he says as he approaches, and even though Keith already figured as much, hearing those words still makes his heart sink.

“Nothing from Shiro or Colleen, either,” he adds, frustrated. “It’s been hours since she disappeared, Lance. She could be anywhere!”

“She wouldn’t go far,” Lance says, although he seems unsure. “She’s just upset, and she doesn’t know who to trust. But she’ll come around.”

“You don’t know that,” Keith snaps. “She’s never run away before, even when Matt died. What if she decides not to come back?”

“Keith, calm down. It’s gonna be okay.”

Keith sighs, his shoulders slumping. “What do we do?”

“Oh my god, Keith, look!” Lance breathes in sharply, pointing to a spot over Keith’s shoulder. “It’s her!”

Keith whips around, squinting into the darkness until he sees the faint outline of a small girl walking towards them. “Pidge?” he asks, almost disbelievingly. “Is that you?”

The silhouette looks up, the faint light from a nearby streetlamp reflecting off its glasses. Keith takes off running, ignoring the ache in his legs from all the recent activity. He throws his arms around Pidge and squeezes her as tightly as he can, intent on never letting go.

“Where  _ were _ you?” he asks, squeezing his eyes shut. “Are you okay? God, Pidge, don’t ever run off like that again. You scared us!”

Pidge doesn’t say anything, but one of her arms wraps around his back in a half-hug. She seems so small, even more so than usual, and Keith feels weirdly protective of her all over again. He pulls back, checking her all over. She doesn’t seem hurt anywhere, thank god, but she’s clearly still upset.

“We’re so glad you’re safe,” Lance adds, standing behind Keith. “We’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Come on,” Keith says, standing at full height again and taking Pidge gently by the arm. “Let’s head inside.”

Pidge doesn’t protest, choosing instead to follow the two of them silently back to her house. She’s shivering from the cool night air, and her hair is about as messed up as his is.

“Here,” Lance says once they get inside, pulling a blanket off the couch and handing it to her. “Try to warm up.”

Pidge folds the blanket over her arm and says nothing.

“I should call your mom,” Keith tries, pulling out his phone. “She’s been really worried. We all were.”

“Don’t,” Pidge snaps, glaring up at him. Keith blinks, surprised.

“Don’t… what?” he asks. “Don’t call your mom?”

“Yeah,” Pidge says. “I don’t want her to come home.”

Lance takes a step forward, but Pidge doesn’t budge. “You know we have to, right?” Keith says, frowning. “We can’t just let her worry. That’s cruel.”

“That’s not cruel,” Pidge argues angrily, her glare deepening as it turns back to him. “Throwing Matt another funeral is cruel. Asking me to help plan it is cruel. Making me do all of…  _ that _ stuff all over again is cruel, not letting her worry!”

“Pidge, listen-” Keith starts, but Pidge isn’t done yet.

“And you already knew, didn’t you?” she accuses him, dropping the blanket to the floor. “You knew what she was planning, and you didn’t even warn me?”

“I didn’t want to upset you,” Keith explains desperately. “I didn’t agree with her, but it wasn’t like I could tell her that!”

“Yeah, well, you should have!” Pidge exclaims. “You should have stopped all this ceremony stuff when you had the chance.”

“Hey,” Lance interrupts, stepping forward again. “This wasn’t Keith’s fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.”

“Oh yeah?” Pidge raises an eyebrow disbelievingly. “And what are you doing here, by the way?”

“I-” Lance falters, unsure of what to say.

“He was helping us look for you,” Keith chimes in.

“Oh, great. Another person to lecture me about moving on and ‘celebrating Matt’s life’ or whatever,” Pidge snaps. “Well it looks like you’re out of luck, ‘cause I don’t plan on doing any of that anytime soon, so why don’t you just get out of here?”

“Hey, Pidge,” Keith interrupts. “Lance is just trying to help you out. He’s not the enemy, okay?”

Pidge stares at him for a second, her glare turning watery with the tears building in her eyes. “You were supposed to be on my side,” she says, angry.

“I  _ am _ on your side. I’m trying to be here for you whenever I can,” Keith protests.

“Then  _ where were you _ when I needed you?” Pidge asks, her voice breaking. “Where were you today? I went to your house after mom brought up the ceremony, but you weren’t there!”

Keith breathes in sharply, casting a nervous look over at Lance. Pidge follows his line of vision.

“You were with Lance?” she asks, sounding so betrayed it breaks Keith’s heart.

“I didn’t know Colleen was going to talk about it today,” he offers weakly. “I thought- I don’t know.”

“And I thought you were on my side,” Pidge says quietly. “But instead you’ve just been conspiring with my mom and messing around with my ‘new Big Brother’ behind my back!”

Her words hit him like a punch to the gut.

“Pidge-” Lance tries.

“Fuck off!” Pidge exclaims, turning and running towards her room. “Both of you, just leave me alone!”

She slams the door behind her, leaving Lance and Keith alone in the living room.

Keith stands there for a minute, trying to process her words. He can barely stand to think about what she’d said, but sadly, she’s right about most of it. He should have warned her about Colleen’s plan, and he shouldn’t have let his crush on Lance cloud his judgement. Sure, the three of them had started getting along pretty well, but at the end of the day Lance is still just a Big Brother who’s here to get her to open up.

Keith’s done a pretty shitty job of being a brother to her.

“I texted Colleen,” Lance says, breaking him out of his trance yet again. “She’s on her way home.”

Keith doesn’t respond. He’s torn between spilling all of his thoughts to Lance, who always seems to know what to do, and walling himself off to stay loyal to Pidge.

“I’ll go check on her,” Lance continues, turning towards the hallway that leads to Pidge’s room. In a snap, Keith makes up his mind. Before he even knows what he’s doing, he’s reaching out to stop him with a hand to his chest.

“Don’t,” he says, quiet but firm. “Thank you for your help, Lance, but you should go. This isn’t a good time for your counseling.”

“No, you don’t understand,” Lance resists, his own hand coming up to encircle Keith’s wrist. “I can help her. She needs someone to talk to.”

“She doesn’t really seem like she wants to talk,” Keith says firmly.

Lance sighs. “She might not want to, but she needs to. We can’t just let her be alone right now.”

Keith shakes his head. He can’t let Lance go in there and ruin things further. Pidge would never forgive him if she knew he’d sided with Lance and Colleen yet again, and allowing Lance back into her space after she’d told him to leave her alone is definitely what she’d call siding.

“I think we should respect what she wants us to do,” he says, trying to stay diplomatic. If there’s one thing he’s learned about Lance over the past few weeks, it’s that he’s persistent.

“Sometimes it takes more than respect to get someone to start healing,” Lance argues. “She needs to open up before it becomes a deep-seated problem.”

“What she needs are her friends and her family,” Keith insists, frowning at Lance. Can’t he just take the hint and leave? “People who know her better than you do.”

“I know enough to-”

“Lance!” Keith snaps, guilt-fueled anger surfacing. “You’re not a part of this anymore! Didn’t you hear? She said she didn’t want you around.”

Lance stares at him for a few seconds, before a frown settles onto his face. “Keith,” he says warningly, “I understand that she doesn’t want to see me now. But she needs someone to talk to, and I’m the only one who can understand and help her through this- this grief.”

“How?” Keith bursts out. “How could you possibly know what’s best for her? She lost her brother, Lance! Her best friend! How the hell do you expect to help her out with that?”

“I-”

“She doesn’t need you going in there and telling her that everything’s gonna be alright and it’ll get better with time,” Keith continues, glaring at the stunned expression on Lance’s face. “She doesn’t need some- some  _ stranger _ giving her life advice off a fucking throw pillow! She just needs some time!”

“Calm down, okay? I know you’re trying to protect her, but you’ve got to let me do my job,” Lance says.

“Your  _ job _ ?! Pidge just  _ ran away from home _ and you’re worried about doing your  _ job _ ?!” Keith exclaims, incredulous. “Are you serious?”

“I meant  _ help her _ ,” Lance replies, exasperated. “You have to let me help her. She’s obviously emotional about Matt right now, and she needs to be able to talk about it!”

“You want to go in there and make her talk about it? She  _ just _ said she doesn’t want to talk! Can’t you just do what she asks and leave her alone? Is that so hard?!”

“Keith!” Lance barks, stepping closer. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, okay?”

“And you do? Mr. I-use-horoscopes-to-make-life-choices?” Keith snaps back.

“You need to listen, okay? I know you’re trying to help her, but you’re actually just encouraging her to hide her feelings. That could be a problem in the future.”

“So let her deal with it in the future!”

Lance glares at him. “So you want her to become a closed-off adult with a tragic past who can’t break those old walls down no matter how hard she tries? You want her to be emotionally unavailable to everyone because she didn’t do a few hard things as a teenager? You couldn’t possibly understand-”

“ _ I _ couldn’t understand? I’m one of her best friends!” Keith yells, jabbing a finger in the direction of Pidge’s room. “I lost Matt, too, you know! And I’ve known her for years, so of course I understand! You, on the other hand, barely know her, and you never even met Matt, so  _ how the fuck  _ could  _ you  _ possibly understand what she’s going through right now?!”

“Because I lost a brother, too!” Lance cries, slamming a fist on the counter beside them. There are tears gathering in his eyes, Keith realizes with sudden horror, and he’s shaking like a leaf.

“You…” he trails off, feeling sick. Lance squeezes his eyes shut and takes a few shuddering breaths.

“Because I know what it feels like better than anyone else here,” he continues in a quiet, trembling voice. “I know  _ exactly _ what it feels like. Why… Why do you think Colleen hired me?”

Keith’s eyes grow wide as the puzzle pieces start to fall into place. Colleen’s seeming lack of judgement at hiring a stranger to console her grieving daughter, Lance’s gentleness and understanding whenever the topic of Matt popped up in conversation, the mysterious brother he’s always going on about without giving too much detail… Even the depressive episode he’d had a couple of weeks into their sessions starts to make sense.

Lance’s little brother is dead, and Keith just accused  _ him _ of not understanding.

“I didn’t…” he starts, but nothing more comes out. “Lance…”

“Forget it,” Lance says shakily, wiping his eyes and straightening up. “I can’t- I can’t stick around. Tell Colleen I’m sorry.”

“Lance-” Keith tries again, but he can’t say anything else. The words are stuck in his throat, filling his chest with guilt and sadness and anger--directed at himself, this time. How could he have said that to Lance? What was he thinking? He needs to go, to run to him and apologize and beg for forgiveness. He needs to see if Lance is  _ okay _ , at the very least, even if he’s still mad.

“Keith?” Pidge’s small, shaky voice echoes out from the hall. Keith turns and sees his friend, glasses discarded, tears staining her face and shirt. Her lower lip wobbles like she’s holding back even more tears, and without thinking, Keith crosses the room and pulls her into a hug.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers to her, and also to Lance, and to the world at large. “I’m sorry, I’m  _ so sorry. _ You shouldn’t have heard that, I know. Pidge…”

“I miss him,” Pidge sobs into his shoulder, her little hands clinging to him desperately. “ _ Keith, I miss him s-so m-much! _ ”

“I know,” Keith breathes, even though he doesn’t. “It’s okay, Pidge. It’s alright. It’s okay. I’m so sorry…”

Behind him, he hears the front door close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stuff went down! See you next chapter! Thanks for reading : )


	9. Chapter 9

Keith doesn’t go to Pidge’s house on Saturday.

He’s not sure if Lance goes, either. The two of them aren’t exactly on speaking terms, and Keith’s too afraid to go over and see for himself.

Instead he coops himself up in his room and finishes all of his homework for the next three days of class, then does a thorough clean-out of his backpack, school binders, and all of his pockets. By the time he’s done it’s almost lunch time, so he wanders out to the kitchen to make something for himself and Shiro. The kitchen is as empty as ever, but he manages to scrap together a couple of sandwiches on old, frozen bread.

He leaves Shiro’s sandwich in the fridge for later, retreating back to his room in case someone comes looking for him. He takes a bite and looks around, chewing thoughtfully, before he finally relents and pulls out his phone, hoping against hope that there will be some news about Lance. Even something as simple as Pidge confirming that he’s over would be nice--something to prove that he’s not as torn up about this whole mess as Keith is. If anyone deserves to come out of this situation happy, it’s Lance.

He checks his email first, then his social media, and then finally he goes to see his unread texts. There are a few from Pidge, updating him on the situation with her mom. After Lance had left, Pidge had cried into Keith’s shoulder until Colleen and Shiro arrived at the Holts’ house, followed closely by Sam. Keith hadn’t stayed much longer after that, but from what he can tell Pidge and Colleen made up and have since started working on Matt’s ceremony together. Pidge says it’s weird being open with her mom, but she’s also glad that they’re back to the way they were before the car crash.

He texts her back, sending a few lines of reassurance and a promise to be there for her whenever she needs him in the future. Pidge hadn’t held a grudge against him for not being there on Wednesday, but he still feels guilty about it, despite how many times she’s tried to convince him otherwise.

When no reply comes, he goes back to look at the rest of his texts. His eyes land on Lance’s name like it’s a magnet, and he swallows nervously. Lance probably doesn’t want him to text, and Keith honestly doesn’t want to, either. In fact, a small part of him is hoping that he’ll never have to see Lance again, and the awkward apology he’s rehearsed in his head over and over won’t be necessary. But he knows that that’s not fair to Lance, especially because  _ he _ was the one who fucked up. If anyone should be wishing they never have to see someone again, it should be Lance, not him.

He opens the conversation and looks back over their last interaction. Lance’s  _ it’s a date _ stands out amongst the other messages, taunting him. He’d been so happy to go on a date with Lance, so sure that everything was finally figured out. It’s strange to think that that was only a few days ago. Now everything’s as bad as it started off.

_ No, _ he thinks,  _ it’s worse. Lance didn’t totally hate you when he found out you were lying. _

He sighs, falling backwards onto his bed and almost squishing his discarded sandwich. Should he text? Ask to meet up? Say he’s sorry? Lance probably doesn’t want to hear from him, but maybe he’d be open to hearing out Keith’s apologies.

He scrolls up in their conversation, reading through the texts in reverse. When he gets to the part about his horoscope, he pauses for a second. He snorts at the part about rash love life decisions, wishing he’d known just how rash saying yes to going out with Lance was. He should have played it safe and stayed at home. That way, Pidge wouldn’t have run away, and he wouldn’t have said all of those horrible things to Lance.

Maybe his horoscope for today will have some advice for him. It’s a long shot, but he’s willing to try anything now. He goes to the same website he’d gone to the past couple of times, scrolling until he finds the right day and sign.

_ Keep yourself grounded today, Scorpio, _ the page says.  _ You’ll find out that little details you failed to attend to earlier are now coming back to bite you. Don’t procrastinate any further. The time to take care of your problems is now. The more you accomplish today the better you’ll feel about yourself tomorrow. _

Keith stares at his screen incredulously, blinking a few times before he reads the words over again. Has he gone crazy, or is his horoscope telling him to talk to Lance? The part about little details makes sense--he’s been remembering every time Lance talked about his brother all day (all in past tense, never giving more detail than necessary). And he  _ has _ been feeling worse and worse with each day that passes.

He returns to his text conversation with Lance and types out a message-- _ Can we talk? _ followed by  _ I’m really sorry. I didn’t know. _

He quickly exits the app and checks the time, making a mental note. If Lance hasn’t responded in ten minutes, he’ll put it out of his mind until the situation arises again.

Ten minutes later, Lance still hasn’t responded. Keith refreshes his messaging app three times and does a full restart of his phone, but it’s clear that Lance just hasn’t texted back.  _ Maybe he’s busy, _ he thinks hopefully. He goes to clean his sandwich dish, sends an essay to Pidge to look over, plays a game of  _ Words with Friends _ with Shiro from their respective bedrooms.

By the time an hour has passed, Lance still hasn’t responded. Keith gives him one more minute, watching his screen intently for a reply, before he finally admits defeat and gives up. If Lance wants to ignore him right now, he has every right. Keith might not like that fact, but he knows he’ll just make things worse if he pushes his luck.

_ So much for horoscopes, _ he thinks, turning his phone off and tossing it onto his bed. Looks like he’ll just have to figure this one out on his own.

* * *

Pidge practically busts down his bedroom door the next day, Shiro following close behind her.

“We’re going to my house to play video games,” she announces, crossing her arms. Keith raises an eyebrow from his position lying upside down on his bed.

“Have fun?” he half-states, half-asks.

“She means the two of you,” Shiro clarifies, gesturing between them. “I have a class.”

“I have homework,” Keith protests, but Pidge is already attempting to pull him off of the bed.

“Homework can wait. Bonding with your emotionally scarred friend-slash-neighbor is now your number one priority.”

Keith frowns, glancing at Shiro. Pidge catches the look and rolls her eyes dramatically.

“I’m  _ kidding, _ ” she sighs, pulling Keith the rest of the way onto the floor. “Come on, I already put the game in and my console’s gonna fall asleep if you don’t hurry up.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Keith says, wondering when Pidge started joking about things like that. She used to shut down any attempts to talk, and now she’s openly acknowledging her emotional state? He’s pretty sure it’s not a bad thing that she’s willing to talk about it now, but he hadn’t realized just how much things had changed since she’d come home on Wednesday night. Even though she’d agreed to help Colleen with Matt’s ceremony, he’d figured it would take a while for her to feel comfortable talking (and joking) about it again.

Then again, it has been close to four months since Matt died. Maybe Pidge would have opened up much sooner if one of them had given her the push it had taken. He feels the now familiar guilt of holding her back resurfacing, wishing he’d just let Colleen and Lance help her instead of trying to protect her from them.

Shiro waves at them from the kitchen counter as they leave, sipping coffee from his new Rainbow Dash mug. Pidge waves back, not bothering to slow down as she does. She leaves just enough time for Keith to tug on his boots before she’s pulling him out the door again.

It’s not as hot out as it’s been the last few weeks, but it’s still warm enough for Keith to feel uncomfortable during the walk to the Holts’ house. He’s glad once they get inside--he never liked the heat.

He half-expects Lance to pop up in the Holts’ living room, despite the fact that it’s a Thursday, and Lance is probably in class or off with his friends. (He hopes. He doesn’t want to think about what Lance might be doing if his words had  _ really _ hurt him.) Fortunately, they don’t linger in the living room for long. Pidge continues to drag him all the way into her bedroom, where her tiny old TV is displaying the menu for  _ Legendary Defenders _ .

“Is PvP mode okay with you?” Pidge asks, handing him a controller as they settle down by the foot of her bed.

“Sure,” Keith agrees. “I’m down for whatever.”

Pidge nods, already focused on the screen. She scrolls through the different paladins until the Green Paladin pops up. Keith does the same, wholeheartedly intending to play as the Red Paladin. He always has, ever since Pidge first got the game--red’s his favorite color, and he likes the idea of having fire powers--and he’s gotten pretty good at it, if he says so himself. But for some reason, he stops with the selector on the Blue Paladin.  _ Lance’s _ paladin _. _

“Changing things up?” Pidge asks casually. Keith doesn’t even have to look at her to know she’s raising an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah,” he says, hitting  _ a _ on his controller. The Blue Paladin appears on the left side of the screen, with the Green Paladin on the right.

“So… I’ve been thinking about Matt’s ceremony,” Pidge says hesitantly as the game counts the seconds until the round starts.

“Oh?” Keith prompts, keeping his focus on the screen. Pidge may have made a lot of progress over the past couple of days, but he’s still cautious about bringing Matt up around her. Old habits die hard, and all that.

“Yeah. Mom and I are almost ready to put everything together, so we’re thinking next weekend.”

“That’s great, Pidge,” Keith says, trying to sound reassuring instead of condescending. “I’m proud of you, you know.”

“Thanks,” Pidge replies. Then, quietly, “You’ll be there, right?”

“Of course,” Keith promises, shooting a blast of ice towards Pidge’s character. He’s not half as good at playing the Blue Paladin as Lance is.

“Cool. It won’t be, like, a huge ceremony or something. We just want a few people there.”

“I’m glad I made the cut.”

Pidge’s character shoots vines at Keith’s, tangling them around his legs and knocking him to the ground. Keith freezes them until they’re brittle, then breaks free.

“There’s something else,” Pidge says, easily maneuvering away from his next attack. She sounds almost reluctant to bring it up.

“About the ceremony?” Keith asks.

“Yeah. I want to invite Lance to come.”

Keith almost drops his controller.

“I mean, I haven’t asked him yet. I wanted to check with you first, and besides, I haven’t even seen him since Wednesday, so I wouldn’t have had a chance to. And I know he never really met Matt, but I thought it would be nice to have him there since he helped me so much, so… What do you think?”

Keith blinks, then frowns. “Of course you can invite him if you want to. Why would you have to ask me?”

“I don’t know. I heard you two fight on Wednesday,” Pidge admits. “I didn’t want to force you two to hang out just for my benefit.”

“Oh.” Keith feels his face heat up. “You don’t have to worry about that, Pidge. It was just a disagreement.”

“It sounded pretty serious to me,” Pidge replies as her character sucker-punches his. “Did he say… his brother died?”

“Yeah,” Keith says quietly. “I think that’s why your mom hired him.”

“Oh.” Pidge leans back, forgetting the game for a moment. “That… kinda makes sense.”

They sit in silence for a few minutes, the only sound coming from the game through Pidge’s tinny speakers. Keith continues their characters’ battle half-heartedly, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling that’s settled in the air. He really doesn’t want the first time he sees Lance after the fight to be at Matt’s ceremony, but he can’t bring himself to ask Pidge not to invite him. After all, Lance has been just as big a part of Pidge’s grieving process as he has, and it’s not fair for him to prevent Lance from coming just because Keith was a jerk before.

“Are you sure you’re okay with him being there?” Pidge asks, reading him easily. “It really is okay if you’re not.”

Keith shakes his head, his mind made up. “We’re fine, Pidge. If you want to invite him, then that’s all that matters.”

“Okay,” Pidge says, quiet. “Thanks, Keith. You’re-- You’d be a good brother.”

Keith swallows, blinking rapidly. Pidge takes the opportunity to choke his character with a thorny vine, effectively winning the round, but he barely notices.

“Thanks,” he whispers at last, almost to himself. It doesn’t really matter if Pidge hears him or not. He just has to say it.

* * *

He’s cleaning dishes in the back of the campus Starbucks the next day when Rolo calls him to the front.

“What? Why?” he asks, setting down a tiny saucer.

“One of your boyfriends is here to talk to you,” Rolo says with a sigh. Keith’s pretty sure he’s not even teasing at this point--he probably just can’t be bothered to remember everyone who stops to talk to him while he’s working.

He pokes his head out front, scanning the area for Shiro (and Lance, although he refuses to admit it), but neither of them are there. Instead, he sees Hunk hovering near the front of the shop with his hands shoved in his pockets.

“I told him you were busy, but he said it was important,” Rolo explains, rolling his eyes. “You’re off soon, anyway, so you might as well just leave early today and make up for it tomorrow.

“Thanks, Rolo,” Keith says, knowing better than to question an act of kindness from him. He pulls his green apron off from around his neck and grabs his backpack from the break room, then heads back out to the main part of the cafe.

Hunk spots him almost immediately, taking a couple of steps forward so they meet in the middle. “Hey, Keith,” he says, scratching the back of his head anxiously. “Uh, I’m Hunk if you don’t remember. Lance’s friend.”

“I remember you,” Keith assures him. “Nice to see you again.”

Hunk shifts from foot to foot, his eyes darting around the packed cafe. “Is it okay if we go somewhere else to talk?” he asks, almost sheepishly.

“Yeah, of course,” Keith says. The two of them head outside, walking in silence until they find a quiet park bench. Hunk sits down and sighs, and Keith copies his motions, waiting. He doesn’t know what would possibly warrant a visit like this, especially because he and Hunk have only met a couple of times, but he’s almost positive it has something to do with Lance.

“So… I wanted to talk to you,” Hunk starts nervously “It’s about Lance.”

_ Called it. _

“Look,” Keith says, rushing to explain himself. “I know I messed up, and I’m not trying to say that I didn’t, but I really had no idea about his brother. And then I wanted to apologize to him, but I just haven’t been able to--I haven’t seen him since Wednesday, and he didn’t reply to my text…”

He trails off uncertainly at Hunk’s confused expression.

“I don’t exactly know what happened on Wednesday,” Hunk admits carefully. “He didn’t tell me anything, but… He’s not doing so good.”

Keith’s stomach drops with dread. So he really had hurt Lance enough to leave a lasting effect. “Is there anything I can do?” he asks in a rush, eyes wide.

“I don’t know, man,” Hunk sighs. “He’s been skipping classes and ignoring everyone’s calls. I tried to visit him and he wouldn’t even open the door for me.”

Keith can sense the hurt in Hunk’s voice at the last part. He imagines Lance telling him to go away through the door, probably sounding just as horrible as he had the day Keith had come over. He shudders at the thought.

“I just wanted to know what happened,” Hunk says quietly. “I wanted to find a way to fix it. You said it was something about his brother?”

Now it’s Keith’s turn to be awkward and sheepish. “I didn’t know his brother was dead. He’s been helping my friend Pidge with her brother’s death over the past couple of months, and I accused him of not knowing what he was talking about.” He sighs, shoulders slouching. “Turns out I was the one who didn’t know.”

He turns to Hunk, half-expecting a slap in the face for his idiocy. Instead, Hunk looks calmer than before.

“That explains it,” he says, shaking his head. “Lance is really sensitive about stuff that has to do with his brother. He hates talking about it with anyone, even his closest friends. It’s a really serious topic for him.”

Keith’s stomach twists with guilt, and he swallows dryly. As if he didn’t already feel bad enough about making Lance blurt it out. “What can I do?” he asks again, desperate.

“I really don’t know if there’s anything you  _ can _ do,” Hunk says gently. “Whenever something like this comes up, he usually sulks it off within a few days. Then again, no one’s ever accused him of not knowing anything about losing a sibling before…”

Keith groans, burying his face in his hands. “No, no no no… Should I apologize again? In person? Or I could just stay out of his life, if he’d prefer that.”

“I don’t know what he’d prefer,” Hunk says. “But I don’t think this is the type of thing he can just ignore until he feels better. At least, not as quickly as it usually happens. It’s already been almost a week, and he still isn’t texting me back. He hasn’t let any of us even try to comfort him.”

“Maybe I could try,” Keith offers. “I helped him a few weeks ago when he was sick, and he seemed fine the next time I saw him. Even if he doesn’t want me around, it might help him to tell me to fuck off.”

“Wait, go back.” Hunk waves his hand in the air like he’s rewinding their conversation. “How many weeks ago?”

“Uh, five or six?”

“And what did you do to help him?” Hunk asks, leaning closer.

“We ate food and watched  _ The Princess Bride _ ,” Keith replies, frowning. “Why?”

“Keith, that’s the anniversary of the day his brother died,” Hunk says, wide-eyed. “He doesn’t even let  _ me _ hang around on that day. He’s always just sat in bed and ignored everything all day. How did you…?”

“I texted him to ask if he was okay, and he asked me to come over,” Keith explains, confused. “I didn’t know it was his brother’s anniversary…”

Although now that he thinks about it, it does make sense. They watched his brother’s favorite movie, they ate comfort food together, and Lance was saying all those things that didn’t seem to make sense, like…

“What did he mean when he said  _ it was my fault _ ?” Keith asks.

“What?”

“He said ‘it was my fault’,” Keith explains. “And he didn’t elaborate. He just fell asleep.”

Hunk sighs, shaking his head. “I think that’s a better question for him,” he says tiredly.

“Now? You think I should go see him?”

Hunk shrugs, putting on a half-smile. “I guess there’s something special about you, dude. There must be if he let you in like that.”

“But it’s different this time-”

“I know,” Hunk says, patting him on the shoulder. “But you’ve gotta try. We’ve gotta do everything we can to help him, right?”

“Right,” Keith agrees, pushing down his doubt. Even if Lance doesn’t want to see him, even if he slams the door in Keith’s face as soon as he sees him, he’s got to try.

“Thanks, Hunk,” he says, standing. “I’ll head over now.”

* * *

Keith stands outside Lance’s dorm, hand hovering a few inches in front of the door. He’s been there for five minutes, and he’ll probably be there another ten if his nerves have anything to do with it. He can’t stop picturing Lance screaming at him, telling him to fuck off, how much he hates him. It’s strange to think that just a few days ago they were going out on their first date.

Strangely enough, it’s that memory that encourages him to knock. Their date was good.  _ They _ were good. If there’s even a fraction of a chance that he can get that back, he has to take it.

He raps on the door three times, then takes a step back, shoving his hands into his pockets. It’s silent for a minute, then two, then three.

“Lance?” he calls, just loud enough to be heard through the door. “It’s Keith. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

There’s no sound from the other side of the door. Keith briefly wonders if Hunk had been wrong. Maybe Lance decided to get up and go to class, and Keith’s standing in the hallway talking to a door for no reason.

“Look, I want to apologize,” he says, pressing his forehead against the door and closing his eyes. “Just, will you please open the door? Just for a minute.”

He hears rustling coming from the inside of the room, and then the doorknob starts to turn. Keith takes a step back as the door swings open, and-

Lance looks terrible. He has dark circles under his eyes, his hair is a mess, he’s beginning to break out, and he seems exhausted. He’s wearing an old t-shirt and sweatpants and he has a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, just like the last time they were here.

Lance stares him down, his eyebrows drawn together in a frown. Keith feels frozen on the spot, his mouth dry and every apology he wants to say suddenly gone. He needs to say something, anything, but he just can’t.

“What are you doing here?” Lance asks at last, his voice hoarse and raspy.

“I-” Keith tries, but nothing else comes out. Lance sighs heavily, turning and retreating into his dorm.

“Wait!” Keith exclaims, following after him. “I just- I wanted to-”

“Apologize,” Lance finishes for him. “I know.”

“Yeah,” Keith says. “I shouldn’t have said those things on Wednesday. I was scared, and angry, and I took it out on you.”

Lance says nothing, flopping down on his bed instead.

“I didn’t know about your brother,” Keith says.

“Of course you didn’t. Why would you?” Lance mumbles. “I don’t exactly go spreading that information around.”

“I know,” Keith says desperately. “Lance, I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you like this.”

“It’s fine,” Lance snaps. “Just drop it.”

Keith wants to snap back at him, the tense situation making him agitated, but he stops himself at the last minute. He can’t start yelling at Lance again, especially not now. “I want to make things right,” he says at last, running a hand through his hair.

“Please, Keith,” Lance says, and his voice is even more strained than before. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“Okay.” Keith takes a deep breath, then lets it out slowly.

“Do you mind leaving? I’m tired.”

Wordlessly, Keith nods and turns to the door. Clearly Lance doesn’t want him here, doesn’t want to talk about his brother, and Keith should respect that. He doesn’t want to upset Lance more than he already has.

_ But isn’t that what you thought with Pidge? _ he reminds himself.  _ Nobody made her talk, and she ended up running away from home. _

He turns again and walks back towards Lance, then takes a seat on the bed. Lance raises an eyebrow, challenging Keith to say something.

“Why do you check your horoscope every day?” he asks quietly, starting at a safe topic. Lance looks surprised.

“Why do I check my horoscope?” he repeats questioningly.

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know, Keith,” Lance sighs. He sounds exhausted. “It helps me, I guess. Gives me direction.”

“Direction?” Keith prompts.

“Yeah. I know it’s just some writer making these things up, but it feels like it’s telling me what to do. Like, if I just follow whatever it says, or at least keep it in mind, I won’t mess up again. And if I do, it feels like it wasn’t all my fault.”

There those words are again.  _ My fault. _

“Last time I was here, you said something about it being your fault,” Keith pushes. “Were you talking about your brother?”

Lance stares at him. “I’m not talking about Luis with you.”

“Was that his name? Luis?”

“I-” Lance cuts himself off, glaring. “I’m serious, Keith.”

“So am I,” Keith says. “What did you mean?”

“I meant exactly what I said!” Lance snaps, burying his face in his hands. “It was my fault that he died, okay? I wasn’t watching him like I should have been, and he ran into traffic, and now he’s dead. I should have paid more attention, but I didn’t, and everyone knows it’s my fault. Even you.”

Lance breaks off, tugging at his hair agitatedly. He rubs the back of his hand over his eyes, and it comes away wet.

“You couldn’t have known,” he tries, hoping it comes out comforting.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” Lance snorts, shaking his head. “Doesn’t make it true.”

“It  _ is _ true.”

“No, Lance, it wasn’t your fault-”

“Oh, it wasn’t?” Lance raises his head to meet Keith’s gaze. His eyes are red-rimmed and teary. “Then would you care to explain to me why everyone acts like it is? My mom could barely talk to me for a month after he died! I had to give official statements to the police about where we were and why I wasn’t paying attention to him, and they just kept interrogating me like I’d personally run over him when I could barely even drive! And all of a sudden all my friends started treating me like I was made of glass or something. I can’t believe you’re making me talk about this!”

“I’m sorry,” Keith says, because he really is. About everything. “But you know this isn’t healthy. You’ve gotta open up, right? Isn’t that what you said about Pidge?”

“Pidge has a good family and a support system,” Lance snaps. “Her parents, her friends, you. I didn’t have any of that.”

“Maybe not before, but you can now,” Keith says, leaning closer. “I don’t know what it’s like to lose someone like that, but I’ll be here to listen whenever you need me. Please, just talk to me?”

Lance stares at him, and for a few seconds Keith wonders if he’s really gotten through to him. But then Lance shakes his head and looks away, rubbing a hand over his eyes again.

“Can you just leave, please?” he whispers, shrinking away. Keith barely stops himself from reaching after him and trying again.

“Alright,” he says reluctantly, forcing himself to stand up. “I’m really sorry, Lance. I didn’t mean for all this to happen.”

Lance doesn’t reply, and Keith takes that as his cue to get out. He closes the door behind him gently, then presses his head against it again, closing his eyes. He can hear muffled sobs coming from the other side, each one hurting his heart a little bit more.

“I’m sorry,” he breathes again, not that it’s done him any good so far. Then he turns and heads back the way he came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter! Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

Matt’s ceremony is beautiful. There are white roses everywhere--on Matt’s grave, in Pidge’s and Colleen’s hair, pinned to Sam’s lapel. Keith holds two in his hands, unsure of what to do with them. The four of them are the only ones in the cemetery so far--he’d come early to help set up--and the first thing Pidge had done was hand him two flowers.

“We’re giving one to every guest,” she’d explained, forcing the roses into his hands.

“What am I supposed to do with the other one?” Keith had asked. His question had gone unanswered.

He tucks one of the flowers behind his ear, and the other one in the breast pocket of his blazer. He’d decided to dress formal today, and he’s glad he did; everyone else is in fancy suits and dresses. Even Pidge, who he hasn’t seen in a dress in months.

Aside from the roses, the Holts had kept the decoration simple. There are a few folding chairs in a semicircle around a makeshift podium next to Matt’s grave, and a little table with photos of the Holt family on the other side. Pidge is standing at the shrine, holding Matt’s last yearbook picture in her hands.

“You doing okay?” he asks, wandering over to her.

“Yeah,” Pidge says, wiping her nose on her sleeve. “I’m good.”

Keith looks down at the picture, smiling when he sees Matt holding up blurry peace signs. “They tried to stop him from doing that, didn’t they?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Pidge replies, shaking her head with faux exasperation. “He was so happy he got them in, though.”

“Sounds like him.”

Keith surveys the rest of the shrine with interest. Aside from numerous pictures of Matt, there are other little things scattered around that link back to him. A model spaceship he recognizes from Pidge’s room (Matt had always been interested in space, just like Lance is), a bottle of pickle-flavored soda (which he’d tried to trick Pidge into drinking once a few summers ago), and a pair of old headphones Keith remembers from the first christmas he’d spent with Pidge.

“This looks nice,” he says, gesturing to the table.

“Thanks.” Pidge sniffs. “It was my idea. I thought we should put something together so we can remember him better.”

“Well, it’s really cool you did that,” Keith says, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder. Pidge sniffs again, then smiles at him.

“We should finish setting up,” she says, turning away. “Mom made name tags for everyone so they know where to sit.”

“You guys have a seating chart?” Keith asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah. Mom, dad, and I are gonna be in the middle, Shiro’s next to dad, and you and Lance are on the other side.”

Keith stiffens, his eyebrows automatically drawing together. “Pidge…” he protests, “you know Lance doesn’t want that, right?”

“I thought it was ‘just a disagreement’,” Pidge quotes, crossing her arms. Keith flinches.

“Well, it might have been a little more than that…” he admits. “I don’t know, Pidge. Do you think Shiro and I could switch seats?”

“Yeah, of course,” Pidge agrees easily. “I just thought… Well, nevermind. I’ll tell mom now.”

“Thank you,” Keith sighs, the tension melting out of his body. He feels bad for avoiding Lance like a coward when he’s the one who messed up in the first place, but he wants the ceremony to go well, and another shouting match isn’t exactly his definition of “well”.

“No problem,” Pidge replies, already turning away. “I’ll be right back.”

Keith watches her go with a frown. What was Pidge thinking? That she can resolve their fight by giving him an extra flower and seating the two of them together? He wishes it was that easy, but if there’s one thing he’s learned over the past couple of months, it’s that emotions are never easy.

He takes a deep breath to calm himself down, putting all thoughts of Lance out of his mind for now. He looks back at the shrine, smiling ruefully at the old photos. He’d always been better friends with Pidge, despite being closer in age to Matt, but the three of them would still hang out together often. He remembers when he’d first met them a couple of years ago--he’d been visiting Shiro in his new house, when Pidge had crashed into him on Matt’s skateboard, her brother chasing behind her frantically. Nobody had been seriously hurt, but Matt had insisted on ushering them into the Holts’ house to be checked over.

Keith reaches into his pocket and grabs the photo he’d brought. It’s a picture of Pidge and Matt that he’d taken the day of Matt’s graduation. They’d only known each other for a short amount of time before the picture was taken, but Keith still remembers it almost perfectly. Matt had tripped on the stage, the principal had read his name wrong, and he’d almost immediately dropped his diploma into a puddle of mud, but he’d still come back to them with the biggest smile on his face. They’d all been so happy for him.

“Hey.”

Shiro places a hand on his shoulder gently, coming up behind him. He stares down at the shrine sadly, then turns his attention to the photo in Keith’s hand.

“Turned out nice, didn’t it?” Keith says. “I didn’t know they were gonna make something for him. I brought the picture for Pidge, but…”

“It belongs up there,” Shiro agrees with a smile. Keith nods and sets the photo down next to the spaceship gently.

“How’s Pidge doing?” Shiro asks, glancing towards the Holt family.

“She seems okay,” Keith says with a shrug. “I mean, sad, but okay.”

“That’s good.” Shiro pats him on the shoulder before dropping his hand. “You’ve done a great job with helping her out, you know.”

“Yeah, right,” Keith laughs bitterly. He hasn’t told Shiro about Lance’s brother or their fight, but he seems to have picked up the sense that something happened between them on his own. “All I did was push her in the wrong direction,” he continues.

“That’s not true, Keith,” Shiro says gently. “You went over to her house every weekend to make sure she felt comfortable with Lance. You broke off your first date with him just to make sure she got home safe. What else do you call that?”

Keith sighs, unwilling to argue with Shiro at the moment. “I guess,” he says instead, adding another shrug for good measure. He still feels awful about getting in the way of Pidge’s healing process, but she’s already forgiven him a million times over for his interference.

“You’re a good friend, Keith,” Shiro says. “Don’t beat yourself up over your mistakes. You’re only human, after all.”

_ Maybe, _ Keith thinks, remembering his fight with Lance. Even if it hadn’t been intentional, he’d still been a huge jerk, so he figures he deserves to beat himself up at least a  _ little _ bit. He can’t help but feel like Shiro’s talking about the fight too, although he can’t be entirely sure. After all, he still hasn’t told Shiro the details of the night Pidge ran away. He figures Lance doesn’t want everyone to know about his brother, and even if he didn’t mind, it’s not Keith’s place to go spreading around information like that.

“I’m going to go talk to Colleen,” Shiro says, looking over at the Holt family again. “Good luck today, Keith.”

_ Yep, _ Keith thinks,  _ he definitely knows more than he’s letting on. _ He sighs, turns to go back to his seat, and freezes.

Lance is standing a couple of yards away, watching him. His hair is combed back and he’s wearing a nice pair of black jeans and a gray sweater. He’s still got dark circles under his eyes, but it looks as if they’ve lightened since Keith last saw him. Less tired, more composed. He makes eye contact with Keith for a couple of seconds before turning away. Keith watches as Pidge approaches him, pointing to the semicircle of chairs, then to the shrine. (At least, Keith hopes she’s pointing to the shrine. He steps out of the way just in case.) Lance nods along to everything that she says, smiling at something Keith can’t hear.

He’s glad Lance is smiling again, even if it’s only for Pidge’s sake.

Shiro, Sam, and Colleen are already sitting down, so Keith goes to join them. He takes a seat by Sam as Pidge guides Lance to his seat next to Shiro on the other side of the semicircle.

“Should we get started?” Colleen suggests, looking up at Pidge. “You ready, honey?”

“Yeah,” Pidge says quietly, nodding. She brushes off her dress and goes to stand next to Matt’s grave, carefully stepping around the flowers on the ground. She glances nervously at Keith, who gives her a thumbs-up in return.

“Hi,” Pidge says, dipping her head awkwardly. “Um, thank you for coming. I know some of you probably have better stuff to be doing, but… It means a lot that you’re here.”

Keith casts a glance over at Lance, who’s got all his attention focused on Pidge. He seems serene, with his legs crossed, hands folded atop his knee, watching like there really isn’t anything he’d rather be doing. It’s relieving to see him like this.

He turns his attention back to Pidge quickly, before Lance notices him staring.

“Um…” Pidge hesitates for a few moments, making eye contact with Keith again before she continues. “Matt was my brother… My older brother. We grew up together. We were always really close.”

Her expression flickers for a second and she glances down at the ground, playing with her hands nervously. The next time she looks up, it’s not towards Keith, but towards Lance.

“We were really close,” she says again, gaining confidence. “He was one of my best friends. I couldn’t have asked for a better brother… And he’s gone now. He died.”

Keith can see her eyes shining behind her glasses, but she blinks the tears away quickly. “For a long time, I didn’t want to talk about it. I mean, it was all I could think about for weeks after it happened. Why would I want to think about it even more? So I closed myself off and pretended like everything was normal, and I refused to let anyone try to help me. I just wanted to be left alone.

“But it didn’t help. It didn’t work. Nothing did. I still fell asleep thinking about Matt being gone, and I still woke up missing him more than I thought was possible. And I still thought that everything would just fix itself if I kept ignoring it… And then my mom hired Lance.”

Keith raises an eyebrow, glancing towards the other half of the semicircle again. He hadn’t known that Pidge was planning on including Lance in her speech.

“I think she hired him to get me to talk,” Pidge says, rubbing at her nose. “But we still didn’t talk. He just… reminded me a lot of Matt. Having him around made me feel like my old self, and I guess it made talking about it easier, too. And after I ran away, it was him who helped me realize… That life’s too short to spend it suffering.”

Pidge removes her glasses and rubs at her eyes, taking a deep breath before she continues. “I didn’t want to keep up the act anymore. I mean, Matt being gone sucks, and talking about it sucks too… But it feels so much better to talk about it than it did when I was just carrying his memory around by myself. It really feels like things are getting better. So I guess I just want to thank everyone here for helping me realize that I don’t need to bottle things up all the time. And I think Matt would have wanted to thank you, too.”

Pidge rushes to sit back down as soon as she finishes speaking, but everyone applauds for her nonetheless. Keith watches as she wipes at her eyes again, then replaces her smudged glasses. Colleen and Sam wrap their arms around her and smile at each other gently.

“I guess I’ll go next,” Sam says after a minute, removing himself from the family hug and standing by Matt’s grave. “I didn’t really prepare a full speech, but…”

Keith glances over at Lance again, then frowns. Lance’s eyebrows are drawn together, and he’s staring at the ground in concentration. He almost looks… frustrated?

He looks away before somebody catches him staring, snapping his attention back to Sam, but his mind is stuck on Lance. He wishes he could ask what’s going on, if he’s okay, but he’s not sure if approaching Lance would make things better or worse. After their last few encounters, he doubts Lance wants to be anywhere near him for the foreseeable future.

Keith sighs, running a hand through his hair. He can deal with this later. Right now he needs to focus on being there for Pidge.

* * *

Sam and Colleen’s speeches go by quickly, and before Keith knows it, the formal part of the ceremony is over. The Holts surprise everyone by grabbing a big blanket and a couple containers of food out of the trunk and extending the event into a picnic. Shiro agrees to stay, so Keith does too. He’s got nothing better to do, and even though it does seem a little strange to have a picnic in a graveyard, if it makes Pidge happy, that’s all he can ask for.

He helps Sam spread the blanket out while Shiro and Colleen pass out paper plates and water bottles. Pidge lays the containers of food in the middle of the blanket, then takes the corner closest to Matt’s grave as her own. Keith pretends not to see her set a plate of food next to it for him, just like he’d pretended not to notice that the Holts had prepared all of Matt’s favorite foods. Even though he’s glad Pidge has opened up, he figures there are some things that don’t need to be mentioned.

The five of them sit down together, Keith in between Pidge and Shiro. He can’t see Lance from where he’s at, and he doesn’t dare ask if he’d left already or not. Instead he takes a bite of one of the mini peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and tries to pay attention to the conversation. He laughs along as Colleen tells stories of Matt as a kid, and smiles ruefully when Pidge talks about their plans to explore space together when they grew up. He’s just taken a bite of his third sandwich when he feels a tap on his shoulder.

He glances up and freezes, letting the rest of his sandwich fall back onto his plate. Lance is standing in front of him, one hand hanging loosely by his side and the other shoved into his pocket awkwardly.  _ So he didn’t leave, _ Keith thinks, subconsciously wiping crumbs off his fingers.  _ But then, what’s he been doing all this time? _

“Hey,” Lance says, almost nervously. Keith swallows, abandoning his place on the blanket.

“Uh, hey,” he says awkwardly as he stands. “How- How are you?”

“Better,” Lance replies, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Definitely better.”

“That’s good to hear,” Keith says, shoving his hands into his pockets. He has no idea what Lance wants with him, and he’s too afraid to guess at this point.

“So… I came to…” Lance trails off uncertainty, scratching his head. “Can you come with me for a minute?”

“Sure,” Keith agrees, confused. Maybe Lance is leading him away so he can yell at him for being insensitive without disrupting the ceremony. Of course he wouldn’t want to ruin the day for Pidge.

Lance leads him past rows of gravestones, lined up neatly side by side. Keith reads the name on the nearest one in every row, recognizing none of them. Despite what people might think about him, he doesn’t spend much of his time hanging out in cemeteries. A couple of rows later, they take a sudden turn, then come to a stop.

“What’s going on?” Keith asks when Lance doesn’t say anything for a minute. He glances around, wondering why they could have stopped here, until his eyes fall on the gravestone closest to them.

_ Luis Santiago Fuentes. _ Lance’s brother.

“Oh,” Keith breathes quietly, staring down at the grave.

“Keith,” Lance says, turning to face him. To Keith’s surprise, his face breaks out into a melancholy smile as he speaks.

“I’d like you to meet my brother.”

Keith freezes for a second, unsure what to say. “I-” he flounders, opening and closing his mouth uselessly. “Lance-”

“It’s okay,” Lance assures him, his smile turning just a bit more real. “I don’t expect you to have a conversation with a hunk of rock or anything. I just wanted to… introduce you, I guess.”

“Oh,” Keith says again.

“I don’t know what I was expecting,” Lance admits. “I really don’t bring a lot of people to meet him. I don’t like talking about it, you know?”

“Yeah.”

“But… I guess what Pidge said earlier got to me.” Lance shakes his head and sighs. “Life really is too short to spend it suffering. To- to go around with all this weight on your shoulders.”

Keith watches as Lance crouches down and touches Luis’s name, running the tips of his fingers over the letters delicately. “Luis was always so concerned for everyone else,” he says quietly. “He was always looking out for others more than he was looking out for himself, and he always did everything he could to make everyone happy.”

“Sounds like someone I know,” Keith says gently.

“He was… He was so much better than I am,” Lance says, shaking his head. “And he wouldn’t want me hurting over him like this. I know he wouldn’t.”

He straightens up again and takes a deep breath, then faces Keith. “Thank you for coming to check on me last week. It really did help me.”

Keith blinks, surprised. He definitely hadn’t been expecting that.

“I’ve been thinking a lot the past few days, and I realized… I was being a hypocrite, telling Pidge to open up and avoiding talking about my brother at the same time.” Lance shakes his head and chuckles awkwardly. “I guess I’m really not qualified to help people out with this stuff, huh?”

“No!” Keith exclaims quickly. “I mean, no, you’re more than qualified. If anyone’s unqualified here, it’s me. I shouldn’t have said those things the other day.”

“I mean, maybe not as  _ directly  _ as you did,” Lance says, “but that’s not the point. You helped me a lot, Keith. You gave me the strength to come here today, and to visit him again. You and Pidge… You guys really are something else. So I wanted to thank you.”

Keith frowns, then shakes his head. “After everything I said to you, you’re  _ thanking _ me? I thought you were bringing me over here to beat me up or something.”

“Of course not!” Lance exclaims, a spark of his playful side resurfacing. “I don’t murder on the first date, remember?”

“Lance, I’m serious,” Keith says, eyebrows drawing together even further.

“And I’m serious, too,” Lance counters. “You helped me, Keith. You didn’t give up on me, and you didn’t let me close myself off again. So thank you.”

“I-” Keith tries, but he can’t come up with a response. “I’m sorry about-”

“Hey, stop it,” Lance chides. “You’ve apologized enough. I know you didn’t mean any harm, and I forgive you for what you said. I’m really not mad.”

“Can I at least do something to make it up to you?” Keith pleads. “I’ll do anything.”

“Well…” A smile spreads across Lance’s face slowly. “You could always go on a second date with me. Our first one kinda got cut short, if you remember.”

Keith stares at him blankly, dumbfounded. Is he being serious? How can he even say that?

“You- You want me to go out with you after everything that happened?” he stutters, wondering if he’d heard wrong. He must have, right?

“Yeah, I do,” Lance says, completely serious. “I like you, you know. That hasn’t changed.”

For the second time that day, Keith finds himself at a loss for words. Of course he wants to say yes, but is it really okay? What would Pidge think about it? Or Shiro? What if Lance changes his mind about not being mad anymore? What if he says something stupid again and hurts everyone even more than he already has?

“Keith,” Lance says, interrupting his spiraling thought process. “Stop overthinking this, buddy. It’s okay. You can just say yes or no.”

Keith stares at him again, then slowly feels himself beginning to nod. “Then… Yes,” he decides at last, quietly. He can say yes. The rest will work itself out. “Yeah, I’d love to go on another date,” he continues, building confidence.

“Awesome,” Lance says excitedly, his face breaking into the easygoing grin Keith had missed so much. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Keith grins too, unable to help himself. Lance isn’t angry anymore. Lance is opening up about his brother.  _ Lance wants to go out with him again. _

Everything is going to be okay.

The two of them stand there staring at each other for a minute, smiling like a couple of idiots, and Keith can’t even bring himself to care. He’s too happy to bother with anything else right now, and from the look on Lance’s face, it seems like he feels the same way. They only snap out of it when the sound of footsteps approaching reaches them.

Keith tears his eyes away from Lance reluctantly, turning to see who it is. Pidge is heading towards them briskly, her glasses glinting from the early afternoon light.

“Hey!” she calls, coming to a stop a couple of feet away from them. “We thought we lost you guys.”

“Nope,” Keith says, trying to squash his stupid smile and failing miserably. “We’re right here.”

“Good,” Pidge sighs, adjusting her glasses. “Is everything okay over here?”

“Yeah,” Lance says, reaching down and taking Keith’s hand in his deliberately. His hand is warm and soft, just like it was the first time they met. “Everything’s great.”

“Oh.” Pidge blinks, then shoots Keith a sly glance. “I can see that,” she says with a smirk.

“Pidge!” Keith hisses, feeling his face heat up.

“Sorry,” she laughs, not seeming sorry at all. “Anyway, feel free to come back over when you’re ready. We’ve got plenty of sandwiches left.”

“We will,” Lance promises, squeezing Keith’s hand. “Sorry for taking so long. We’ll just be a minute.”

“It’s alright,” Pidge says, turning back the way she came. “Take your time. I’ll see you over there.”

“See you,” Lance replies with a wave. Keith looks back at him and sighs, shaking his head.

“Are you sure about this?” he asks one more time, because he just has to. “I mean, are you sure about  _ me _ ?”

Lance turns his attention back to Keith confidently, his head held high. “I’ve never been more sure about anything,” he assures Keith. “I promise.”

Keith can’t help but start smiling again, so he ducks his head to hide it. He can feel himself starting to blush again and stares down at the ground, willing himself to get it together. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the rose he’d tucked into his pocket and forgotten about, and suddenly he has an idea.

He slips his hand out of Lance’s and reaches for the flower in his pocket, then the one behind his ear.

“Here,” he says, offering a rose to Lance. “For your brother.”

Lance’s smile falters for a second before coming back twice as strong. “Thank you,” he says, barely above a whisper. His voice is filled with emotion that Keith can barely comprehend; sadness and joy, loss and hope. A medley of feelings.

Keith nods, and together they bend down to set the roses below Luis’s name. They look even brighter against the shining gray stone beneath them, almost like they’ve bloomed all over again.

Keith takes Lance’s hand again as they stand up and doesn’t comment when Lance wipes at his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater. He just holds on tight and waits until Lance sorts himself out before gesturing back to the picnic.

“Ready to go back?” he asks. “We can take more time if you need it.”

“No, I’m okay,” Lance says, shaking his head. “Let’s go.”

Keith leads them back towards the others in no particular rush, just enjoying being around Lance again. He’d missed Lance so much over the past two weeks or so (not that he’d ever admit it), and now that they’re back together he plans to enjoy it as much as possible.

“Thank you,” he says once they’re right out of earshot of the others. “For giving me a second chance.”

“Of course,” Lance says, pressing his side against Keith’s. He feels warm and strong and comforting.

“Although, I have to ask… Did this have anything to do with your horoscope?”

Lance freezes guiltily, then turns to face Keith with a sheepish grin. “I was planning on making up with you anyway…” he says with a chuckle. “It was just a coincidence.”

Keith smiles and rolls his eyes, then tugs Lance the rest of the way back to the picnic. Pidge has moved Keith’s plate next to one he presumes she put together for Lance. She grins at him playfully as he sits down, still holding Lance’s hand.

“Shut up,” Keith tells her, although there’s no bite in it. Normally he’d snap at her for her relentless teasing, but he can’t bring himself to feel annoyance. He’s  _ happy _ , happier than he’s been in a long time. Happy because Pidge is finally healing, because he’s back with Lance, and because Lance is getting better, too. He really doesn’t know what else he could ask for.

He lets himself relax against Lance’s side and really, truly enjoy the picnic, knowing that at least for now, everything has turned out alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand that's the end! Thank you to everyone who read this far into the story and stuck with it until the end, and to everyone who left a kudos or comment as well! I appreciate you all a ton!  
> Special thanks to my friend Taesha for reading and supporting my work, to [Blipspan](https://blipspan.tumblr.com/) for beta-ing the whole story, and to [toffeecoco](https://toffeecoco1.tumblr.com/) for creating some lovely art to go along with my fic! It's been really fun working with everyone!!  
> Thank you so much for reading!!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos and comments are always appreciated.  
> [My Tumblr](https://djbunn3.tumblr.com/)  
> This was also my second time participating in the Klance Big Bang on Tumblr, which means I got to work with the wonderful [toffeecoco1](https://toffeecoco1.tumblr.com/), who made some [amazing art to go with my fic!](https://ceciledraws.tumblr.com/post/178363887502/my-piece-for-the-klancebb2018-i-was-a-dumbass).  
> P.S. All of the horoscopes featured in this fic are real horoscopes from the days I was writing! They fit in very well with the storyline, but they were actually completely random!


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